


The Mafia Case

by hazzaxboobear



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Abuse, Abusive Relationships, Agent Harry, Alternate Universe, Boss Louis, Childhood Friends, Death, Fluff, Gang Violence, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Larry Stylinson Is Real, Lost Love, M/M, Mafia AU, Murder, Violence, i dont know what else to tag, its a scene where you can guess what happened but there's no details he just wakes up the next day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:33:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 32,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25861378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazzaxboobear/pseuds/hazzaxboobear
Summary: Harry Styles. If you saw him in the street you wouldn't know who he is. He works at an intelligence agency knows as the iicf (international investigative coterie firm.) He works with them to take down some of the biggest threats around the world.Louis Tomlinson. A famous name in the underground. He is the boss of the mafia the Royal Devils, which is one of the greatest mafias in the world.The two don't remember each other but they were childhood best friends, who may or may not have fallen for each other but we're afraid to fully admit it. What happens when years later, after they have established their careers, they meet again when Harry gets a new case to take down the Royal Devils? Will old feelings be resurfaced? Or will Harry turn in his once only best friend/lover?
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello! so i came up with this idea at 3am one night and showed it to one of my best friends who said they would read it so here we are.
> 
> warnings:  
> \- violence(it's a given there's a fucking mafia)  
> \- cursing(i mean what do you expect?)  
> \- gun violence   
> \- murder(and maybe torture or kidnapping depends on what i feel like)   
> \- drugs and maybe drug use  
> \- abuse(you will find out)
> 
> that's all i can think of for now i may add more later, i'm not sure. maybe later on i may do smut but idk. but if i do it's bottom harry, cause toplinson all the way. also, if i do do smut i will put a warning on the chapter(s).
> 
> ok, so if you have a problem with any of this i advise you leave now because the fun has only begun.
> 
> disclaimer: this is an au(alternate universe) and i don't own anyone in this fanfic. the boys are their own person and this is completely fictional and for fun.
> 
> disclaimer 2: this is my first fanfic, so i hope you all enjoy and please bare with me :)

Looking in from the outside you would believe that Harry lives a pretty average life. He graduated college, has a job, a fiance, etc. But, in reality he doesn't live an average life at all. He worked hard to get a job at the international investigative coterie firm, or IICF as it is more commonly known. IICF is one of the most prestigious intelligence agencies in the world. Harry studied hard during his secondary school career and ended up being put in a grade level above his age. In college he met his best mate, Niall Horan, and studied for four years to earn his bachelor's degree in law. He then applied for a job at IICF and spent two years doing physical and mental training to help him when he works on the field during his cases. Once he completed his training to become an officer at IICF, he worked his hardest to get to the point where he is now. And now, at 26, Harry is one of the captains at IICF along with Niall. Apart, they are two of the best captains the agency has ever had, but together, they work as one of the greatest teams and never fail to bring in the enemy and close all their cases.

At IICF there are five levels of jobs you can have. The "lowest" level is a forensic or technician. Most people who work at this level mainly focus on helping solve the evidence the officers and captains collected while working out on the field. The officers are the "second best" level. Officers go out on the field and their main goals are to collect evidence and protect their captains. The next level are the captains. The captains are in charge of a group of officers and run cases. The captains are some of the best workers. Above the captains are the case managers. They basically do what their name says. The case managers organise and sort through cases and find the best cases to give to certain captains based on their skill levels. The "last" and "highest" level at IICF is the boss. The boss overlooks all the operations and cases going on, asses who does what best, and assigns who should be at what level. 

Harry and Niall both started out as officers after their training was complete. They both worked hard because they aspired to become captains. Eventually after 2 years of hard work as officers they became some of the best captains IICF has ever seen. Other than having an abnormal job, Harry does live a pretty average life. He is engaged to a man. (Yes, he is gay. If you don't like it you can fuck off). His name is Noah Thompson and they met at college. Noah studied psychology while he was in college and was infatuated by the curly haired lad. He felt like he must have him. So, that's what Noah did. He asked Harry on a date and, of course, he agreed, cause he thought Noah was cute and a fun guy. Now, five years later, Harry realises he may not have made the best decision. 

Noah always wants him home by a certain time, but with his job Harry struggles to meet his requests. So no matter how many times he tries to compromise with Noah, he knows he will get a punishment. Whether that be missing a day or arriving late to work to stay and please Noah the next day, since he needs to keep Noah happy, because that's all he wants for his fiance. To be happy.... together. Even though, pleasing Noah may make him sad, it makes Noah happy and Noah being happy helps him be happy, sometimes. Or that's the way he thought after everything Noah told him. I mean, Noah studied psychology. He knows what makes a healthy relationship and people happy, right? Noah also wants him to be a housewife. Which, Harry doesn't mind cause he loves being domestic, but he wished Noah would help him sometimes. 

At least, he has Niall. Someone who has been with him through thick and thin during college life, and now out on the field while working cases. Niall always tells Harry that he doesn't trust Noah or like him, and as much as Harry trusts Niall, he always uses the same excuses because he is stubborn and afraid. 

_'It's because he loves me'_

_'He just wants to keep me safe'_

Niall knows these are a lie and that Harry is trying to reassure himself more than Niall, but that's only because Noah is only the second person he has loved in his life. The first was an old childhood best friend who moved away and he lost contact with. That friend was how harry figured out he was gay. He loved him, but never got to tell him cause he was afraid of rejection and didn't want to lose him. But he did anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter 2!! we got some more background info coming so just sit back, relax, and enjoy the more boring parts of this book. hopefully it will get more interesting soon!

Louis Tomlinson is famous. But not in the sense that you would first think of, no. He is famous in the underground. He is the mafia boss of the _Royal Devils,_ as they're called. It is one of the most famous and respected mafias in the world. There are many reasons why it is famous. Although it hasn't been around for a long time, the _Royal Devils_ is still one of the go to mafias if you need to get the job done, and the job done fast and without complications. The _Royal Devils_ have never been caught. No matter what job they do, they have outrun all the agencies and people after them. Louis began his career in crime in a different mafia when he was 16 and dropped out of secondary school. He at first wanted to continue school while he did extra jobs for the mafia to help pay for his mother's medical bills. Sadly, however, not long after he joined, his mother still ended up passing away. After his mother's passing, he had gotten in deep with the mafia and had grown a slight, or should I say major, liking to the crime life. So, he dropped out of secondary school and began quickly moving his way up through the ranks and eventually created his own mafia, the _Royal Devils,_ once he learned the ropes. And now, at 28, he is one of the best mafia bosses in the world to one of the greatest mafias.

Louis is the at the top of the ranking in the mafia. There are different rankings within the mafia. We start out with the Boss at the highest level. Louis is the Boss of the _Royal Devils,_ he basically runs everything. Even though he is the Boss, he gets help from many other people in the mafia. One of his best friends, Zayn, that he met during his time in the mafia is the underboss. The underboss os the second highest ranking. The underboss, helps out when the boss can't and is fit to take up the place of the Boss if something were to ever happen to the boss, Louis. Usually the underboss would be a family member of the Boss, but since Louis' sisters don't know what he does and no one in the mafia knows he has siblings, he was bale to choose Zayn to be the underboss. Another one of Louis' best mates is Liam. Liam is the consigliere, or advisor, of the mafia. He helps give advice to the Boss and underboss about the best decisions for the mafia to help them grow and earn money to keep going. The consigliere also represent Louis and Zayn if neither of them can be there for important meetings and decisions. 

Zayn joined the mafia at first to help pay for his college after he graduated, but he enjoyed the life of crime a bit too much as well, especially with Louis by his side, and decided to not go to college. Liam, however, actually did go to college, but only for a year or so. He had to dropout after he had no more money. He joined the mafia to get money to live and eat and ended up finding two of his best mates with a side of a hell of a lot of fun, blood and crime.

Although Louis never finished high school he did teach himself some valuable skills to keep his reigning position as mafia boss of the _Royal Devils_. He taught himself kinesics so he could always tell when someone was lying to him. Knowing when someone was lying to you was a great thing, especially when you are in the mafia. He was one of the best at reading people's body language. Zayn and Liam were always by Louis' side because he was their boss, but he was also their best friend. They only want to protect Louis during jobs and want to keep his darkest secrets safe and are always there for him.

Everybody in the mafia believes Louis is a cold, stone-faced man who will never love or show compassion. But, Zayn and Liam know Louis isn't really like that. He is very comppasionate once you know him, but he hasn't truly loved someone for a long time, especially after his mother's passing. I mean sure, he's had flings and one-night stands, but he hasn't truly and openly loved someone for years. He believes he will never find love because, one he is in the mafia, and two he doesn't believe he deserves love after everything he has done. He did love someone once. When he was younger, much younger. His childhood best friend to be exact. He doesn't remember him that much seeing as it has been a long time and they lost contact long ago. He does, however, remember staring into those sparkling green eyes and seeing a life he wished he could have now, but probably never would. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay! i finished another chapter. thoughts?
> 
> again sorry for the kinda boring background info, but it is important so you all understand how everything works so things will hopefully make sense.
> 
> hope you all enjoyed seeing the beginning of the darker side.
> 
> love you all,  
> -H


	3. Chapter 3

Harry groaned as he woke up to the annoying sound of his alarm clock. He looked over to his left where it sat and read the time.

_6:00 am_

He then rolled over to his right to look at Noah's sleeping figure. He looked so peaceful while asleep. No harsh words or glares, just peacefulness. Harry slowly got out of bed, leaving the warmth and comfort, and slipped on a pair of trousers to keep his legs warm before he headed downstairs to make breakfast for himself and Noah.

As he was cooking breakfast, pancakes and eggs, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and a warm body press up against his back. 

"Good morning Noah. Sleep well?" Harry asks turning around in Noah's arms

"Perfect with you by my side." Noah replies, leaning in to attach his lips to Harry's.

Noah moves his tongue across Harry's bottom lip asking him for entrance. Harry of course complies and gives him entrance, allowing Noah's tongue to explore his mouth and dance with his own. 

"I've got to finish making breakfast. You don't want it to burn do you?" Harry asks as he pulls away from Noah and turns back around before continuing to cook.

Noah leaves to go sit down at the dining table as Harry finishes the pancakes and eggs and puts them on two plates. He carries the plates into the dining room and sets one in front of Noah, who was sitting at the head of the table. Harry puts his own plate down and sits in the seat on Noah's right and begins eating.

"Harry this breakfast is amazing, thank you princess." Noah moans as he scoffs down the food. Harry scrunches up his nose in disgust at the use of the pet-name. Noah knows he dislikes that pet-name but he still uses it anyway.

After they have finished eating, Harry picks up his and Noah's plates and carries them to the sink to rinse them and put them in the dishwasher. He then cleans up the pans he used while making breakfast. Once he has finished cleaning, he makes his way upstairs to his and Noah's room and wals into his closet to choose his outfit for work.

The dress code at the IICF was pretty simple, it was business casual. That meant Harry and most other workers there had to wear suits, but not over the top suits. They also brought a change of clothes that would be more fit to wear if they have to go out onto the field. After Harry gets changed into his suit and grabbs his bag with his computer, notes, change of clothes, and other work essentials, he heads downstairs to say goodbye to Noah.

On his way downstairs to say goodbye to Noah he passes all the photos of him and Noah and him with his family. He always tears up when he sees the photos of his family. It's difficult to see his family between his job of being apart of a secret agency and Noah always hot on his tail. His family doesn't like Noah that much and he used to not understand why, but now he's slowly figuring it out. He's come to realise the way Noah treats him is not right, but he can't leave him. He can't make someone else unhappy, even if their happiness costs him his. 

Harry wipes the lone tear that fell and walks into the living room where Noah is sitting with a beer bottle in one hand and watching the TV. He walks towards Noah and leans in to give him a quick peck goodbye, but of course that is never enough for Noah. Noah wraps his arms around Harry's waist and pulls him into his lap while his tongue works its way into Harry's mouth.

"Noah.." Harry whines. "We can't do this right now I need to get to work or I'm going to be late."

"Fine. But you better be prepared for tonight." Noah replies with a devious smirk and lustful glint in his eyes.

Harry just nods and turns around not wanting to think about what is going to happen tonight. He is aware of Noah's stare on his ass as he walks out of the living room, towards the front door to grab his keys for his car.

***

"HARRY!" Niall yells as soon as he sees Harry walking into the building. 

On the outside you would believe that the agency was just another boring old company, but once you step inside and bypass the security entrance it is like a whole new world. There are people running around sharing notes and solving clues in one part of the building. In another part of the building people are going through daily exercise and training to stay fit and agile. 

Harry heads towards Niall and greets him with a hug as always.

"Hey! How are you mate?" Harry asks once he pulls away from the hug.

"Same old, same old. You know? This job can be a but much at times, but I wouldn't change it for the world." Niall replies enthusiastically. 

"Me neither, Nialler." 

They continue walking towards their work station together until they are pulled aside by one of the case managers. 

"The boss wants to see you about a new case," she starts, taking a quick look at her watch, "right now so you better hurry up."

Niall and Harry give each other a confused look, because usually cases were given out by managers not the boss, and make their way as quickly as possible towards their boss's office.

Harry knocks on the door to the office. After he and Niall hear a faint 'come in' he slowly turns the door handle and steps into the office Niall following behind him and closing the door.

"Please, take a seat boys. We have a lot to discuss." Their boss, Mr. Smith, says. 

Harry and Niall both took a seat in the chairs in front of Mr. Smith's desk, sending a questioning glance towards the man.

"I'm guessing you're wondering why you both are here. Well, it has come to our attention that a new mafia that has been around for a few years has risen through the ranks and surpassed some of the best mafias known and are now the best of the best. I asked you two to come here because you are two of our greatest and most trusted captains at this agency. I want you both to take down the mafia boss, and hopefully the rest of the mafia with him." Mr. Smith states while pulling out case files from his desk and passing them over to Harry and Niall to read.

"The mafia is called the _Royal Devils_ , and I'm putting you guys on the case cause we sadly have very little information and you both are very intelligent. I've given you the case files which consist of all the information we have on the mafia and the mafia boss. I'm trusting you two with this and I'm sure you won't disappoint." Mr. Smith concludes, dismissing Harry and Niall to go to their work station and read over the case files.

Once Harry and Niall arrive at their work station they open up the case files and begin reading through them to get as much information as they can.

_Case File: 155204_

_Name: Louis Tomlinson_

_Picture: None_

_Gender: Male_

_DOB: Unknown_

_Known Aliases: 'Tommo'_

_Known Family Members: None_

_Age Range: 26-30_

_Physical Appearance: Brown hair,_ _blue eyes, 5'8/173cm, short and curvy_

_Known Committed Crimes: Mafia boss, murder, kidnapping, homicide, voluntary manslaughter, theft, drug crimes, blackmail, assault and battery._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a longer chapter than normal, but i guess i just got a lot of inspo at 3am
> 
> thoughts?
> 
> thank you all for reading! make sure to comment and vote please!
> 
> love you,  
> -H


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys it's me again. how are you guys liking the story so far?
> 
> this is a larry story but i was thinking of maybe adding another ship? if i did which ship would you want? niam? ziam? ziall?
> 
> anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! dont forget to vote and comment!
> 
> love you all,  
> -H

Liam and Zayn walk into Louis' office pulling a guy with them. The guy looked scared for his life and was muttering prayers under his breath. Louis looks up when he hears the intrusion and narrows his eyes when he sees the man between Zayn and Liam. He sends Liam and Zayn a look and the push the guy into the chair that is sat in front of Louis' desk. Louis leans back in his chair studying the man. The man looks around the room, scared shitless, not making eye contact with anyone. His hands were sitting in his lap, shaking, and his entire body was sweating. Louis was observing all the man's nervous habits with a knowing smirk.

"I'm guessing you know why you are here?" Louis asks the man, eyeing him with harsh eyes.

"I promise I have the money I just need more ti-" 

"I already gave you enough time!" Louis bellows at the man, watching him cower back with hunched shoulders. "I gave you six months to get me the money the first time and you didn't have it, so I decided to be nice and give you another six months. I gave you a whole year and you still don't have the money. You should know what you are getting yourself into when you bargain with me!"

"Please just give me more time. One more month, then I promise I'll have the money." The man tried again, fearing for his life. He had heard how ruthless Louis could be and was scared to see what would happen.

"No." Louis deadpans before he pulls his gun out of its holster and shoots the man straight in the head. "Get rid of the body. I don't want my office to smell."

Zayn and Liam quickly pick up the body up out of the chair and give it off to a few capos standing outside of the room to dispose of it properly. 

"So...do we need to clean up the blood, or are you still in a pissy mood?" Zayn jokingly asks. Louis sends him a glare before smiling and laughing at Zayn's attempt to lighten the mood.

"No, I'm good. Do me a favour, go to the man's house and collect some valuables and any money you find around. Also, send out a few capos to finish off some jobs and I need you two to go with them and report back to me." Louis says, dismissing Zayn and Liam out of his office.

Zayn and Liam leave Louis' office and enter the training room in the house where all the capos train during free time. They pick ten capos, five each, and get in the vans to go and collect their earnings and complete some jobs.

***

Louis was sitting at the head of the table in the meeting room when Zayn, Liam, and the capos all arrived back at the base. He had been waiting for awhile cause the jobs took longer and was hoping for a good explanation, because he couldn't deal with anymore shit today.

Zayn and Liam walk into the meeting room with a few capos behind them looking scared.

"Please take a seat. You better have a good excuse for taking so long to do some damn jobs that are very simple." Louis calmly says, even though he is fuming at them all.

"We were out collecting money from some of our customers and one of them gave us an address of where we can pick up the money from and a time. So, naturally, we went to check the address and it seems kind of suspicious so we thought we should bring it back to you and get your analysis on it." Liam says, while walking towards his chair on Louis' left and motioning the others to sit as well. 

"I see. Well, when are we supposed to go collect this money?" Louis asks. "I don't want to waste anymore of my time on fucking idiots." Louis mutters, already coming up with a plan if something were to go wrong.

Liam and Zayn told Louis the details of the meeting and he agreed that it did sound fishy. So, he decided that he would go along with Liam, Zayn, and some of their more higher ranking capos to the meetup. He and Zayn would meet with the person and Liam would hide out with the other capos until signaled to come out if something goes wrong. That night they got their guns prepared before heading off to bed. Louis dreaming of a good fight because he hasn't had one in awhile and is craving some action.

***

The next morning Louis is sitting in the passenger seat of one of their vans, with Liam driving and Zayn in the back getting the guns and capos ready for a fight just in case. 

"We almost there Liam? I am dying to see where this meeting will go." Louis says with a devilish smirk.

"We'll be there in a few minutes." Liam replies concentrating on the road and taking in all the surroundings and possible quick exits they could take if they had to leave quickly.

Louis just nods and takes his gun out of its holster. He checks his gun to make sure everything is good before heading to the back of the van to check up on Zayn and the other capos. He opens the door that separates the back of the van from the driver and passenger seat, and enters the room. He overlooks all the capos and then stands aside to talk to Zayn for a few minutes before he hears Liam calling his and Zayn's name saying that they have arrived.

Louis sends the capos and Liam inside to go to their hiding spots seeing as they have arrived earlier then the meeting time.

Once Liam and the capos have gotten into place, Louis and Zayn strut into the building keeping a lookout on all sides in case of any surprises. 

"Hello? Anyone here, or is this just another way for people to waste my time?" Louis snickers.

Louis heard a movement and yelled. "GET DOWN!"

All of a sudden cops started swarming the place and bullets were flying everywhere, but they didn't stand a chance. Louis takes out his gun and shoots four cops straight in the head. He shoots a different cop in the chest and another one in the foot. Zayn started protecting him while getting him to move outside of the building and still shooting some cops that were trying to get to them. Liam and the capos get out of their hiding places and start shooting the remaining cops giving them enough of a distraction for Zayn and Louis to exit the building. 

Zayn and Louis hop into the drivers and passenger seats of the van while Liam runs out with a few capos. The other capos are behind carrying some injured capos. 'Shit' Louis thinks. He should've realised sooner. This meeting place had the feds written all over it. He guesses his thirst for some blood and fun got to the best of him. They all drive back to the base in silence, except for the few moans and groans of the injured capos. Louis just wonders what's going to be next after the cops. An agency? Probably. They should prepare, because if the cops have caught on means the intelligence agencies have too.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> back with another chapter. i hope you guys are enjoying this story. i am trying my best because this is my first fanfic.
> 
> anyway hope you all enjoy this chapter!
> 
> p.s. this chapter has an intense scene but there is no smut. just to warn you.

Harry releases a sigh as he closes the door to his and Noah's house. He slides down the door to sit on the ground and take a breather. Today was a stressful day at work. Between running around the agency and trying to figure out more information on the infamous _Louis Tomlinson_ with Niall, he was exhausted. He also had to stay later than normal so he and Niall could talk to the boss about some things they had found out during their research. 

He slowly gets up off the floor realising that Noah is probably pissed at him for being home this late, and also the fact that he couldn't tell him he would be late because he was too caught up in his work to text him.

He sighs slowly making his way towards the stairs to the upper level where their bedroom is. He stops when he hears a noise from behind him and slowly turns around to be face to face with Noah sitting in the living room, glaring at him.

"Hi baby, how are you? Did you eat yet?" Harry says, cautiously making his way towards where Noah is sitting. 

"I thought you were going to be home earlier? Do you not remember you owe me something?" Noah asks. Completely ignoring what Harry asked and standing up to walk towards him.

He takes hold of Harry's wrists and slowly backs him up into the wall. He pushes his body up against Harry's so he is stuck between the wall and Noah. Harry is unable to move out from between the wall and Noah due to his grip on his wrists and the pressure of Noah pushing him against the wall.

"Noah please. I had a long day at work because we got a new case and it's one of the biggest ones. Please can we not do this tonight?" Harry pleads as Noah starts to kiss and suck at the column of Harry's throat, making dark bruises.

"But princess, you promised, and you never break a promise do you?" Noah breathes over the marks he's made on Harry's throat, making the latter shiver in response. 

Noah releases his tight hold on Harry's wrist to move his hand to his waist. As he is moving his hands he catches Harry off guard by attacking his lips. Harry gasps at the unexpected action and Noah takes that as his chance to shove his tongue into Harry's mouth and grips his waist with a steel grip.

Harry was so caught off guard that he started kissing Noah back, and giving into his demands while melting into his touch. Harry soon realised what Noah is doing and starts pushing against his chest to get him off of him. 

"Noah please. I promise we can do this another time and you can do what you want. Just not tonight please?" Harry mumbles against Noah's lips. Noah sighs and mumbles something under his breath before releasing his grip on Harry.

"You promise I can do anything next time? No stopping me?" Noah asks with a sadistic smirk.

Harry sighs, closing his eyes and leaning his head against the wall. He realises what he said and what Noah means by that. He slowly opens his eyes and says one word. 

"Yes." 

Noah gives him a Cheshire grin before leaning in to peck his lips one last time, and making his way upstairs leaving Harry alone to think about what he has agreed to do. Harry finishes closing up the house before he makes his way upstairs and gets ready for bed as well.

***

The next morning Harry wakes up to a cold bed. He turns around and realises that Noah must have left very early in the morning. 

_'He's probably mad at me. I mean I did promise him didn't I?'_

_'I need to make it up to him'_

Harry thinks of possible ways he can make it up to Noah, but he isn't even sure why he feels like he needs to. He was tired he shouldn't have to do anything. Right? He is so confused with his thoughts that he just decides it would be best to get ready to go to work.

Harry goes downstairs to make breakfast for himself before he heads back upstairs and puts on his work clothes. He does his usual morning routine of brushing his teeth and taming his curls before he grabs his bag and heads towards the front door. Before he leaves he double checks he has everything and grabs his phone, car keys, and wallet off the entrance table before heading out the door and towards his work.

***

Harry walks into the building going through the security gate as always. When he is inside the agency he notices Niall hasn't come to greet him like usual. 

_'It's probably cause he is already working on the case.'_ Harry thinks to himself.

Harry walks towards his and Niall's station, only to find the fake blonde reading over the case files and notes with his glasses almost falling off the bridge of his nose.

"Hey Nialler." Harry says as he sits down across from Niall. Niall looks up to make eye contact and quickly sends him a warm, welcoming smile.

"Hey Haz, ready to get down to it again?" Niall asks.

"Yep. We should also work on a plan to possibly lure them in if we can." Harry replies. He picks up a few notes and reads them over as Niall hums in agreement to his statement. 

They spend the next few hours going over old cases of the cops and other lower level agencies trying to capture the _Royal Devils,_ to see if they could find the flaws in their plans and modify them. 

They had devised that it would be best if they send an officer to deliver a letter asking them to kill a fake person. They think this would be best since most feds chose to do a drug deal which can usually be very fishy, even without cops. So, their idea is if they were to ask them to kill someone they wouldn't suspect much since no agencies or feds have tried that approach towards them yet. 

Harry and Niall write the letter before they send it off with one of their agents. Now, all they have to do, was just wait for an answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know, i wasn't planning to write that scene it just kinda happened. don't kill me pls. also sorry for the short update. ):
> 
> hope you all are enjoying this story so far! thoughts?
> 
> don't forget to comment and vote.
> 
> hopefully the action will start picking up soon. do you guys like the pace of this story so far? or is it too slow? too fast?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm moving this story here from wattpad because i know not everybody has wattpad so if formatting is weird sometimes that is why. :)

_Louis Tomlinson,_

_I have a job offer for you. I need you to kill Bill Rose. I will give you up to 1 million dollars for this job, if you want more you can contact me and we can negotiate. He lives in an old apartment complex which is located at 16 Wellington Dr. His apartment number is 128. If you are able to do this job I will transfer the money to you or give the money to you at whatever address we agree on._

_Sincerely,_

_Jack Miracle._

Louis reads the letter again for the fourth time before setting it down on his desk. He was confused when Zayn and Liam had come bursting into his room with a letter in hand and his curiosity was peaked. 

Louis rests his head in his hands as he stares off into space. He lets his thoughts wonder thinking about why someone would need to kill someone, especially for 1 million dollars. The letter was weird seeing as they rarely got letters asking them to kill people. Mainly, they only killed people when they owed them money or betrayed them. That doesn't mean they still didn't get letters asking for them to kill someone. 

"We haven't got a job like this in awhile. Plus I'm up for a little bit of drama." Louis says.

"I agree the job may be helpful, but have you not thought about it being suspicious?" Liam asks.

"What do you mean Lima?" Louis questions, although he knew where this conversation was going.

"We just got swarmed by the feds not too long ago and now we get a job offering a lot of money to kill someone. Does that not seem suspicious at all?" Liam presses.

"I get that Liam, I do. But, it would be good to get into some action again, and if, _if_ , things go south, I take full responsibility for it." Louis acknowledges.

"Fine." Liam replies, rubbing his temples because he doesn't understand why Louis can be so stubborn.

During the whole ordeal Zayn was just leaning against the door with his arms crossed while watching the two bicker.

"You know, I agree with Liam, it is kind or suspicious, but I don't think it's suspicious enough to need to obsess about worrying over it." Zayn says letting the others know where he stands on the situation.

"So it's settled then. We will go out to do the job in two days. For now, let's do some training with the other capos and make sure everyone knows the plan." Louis concludes, standing up from where he was seated to exit the room. 

***

It was now the day that Louis, Liam, and Zayn were set to go out and kill Bill. They had spent all of yesterday preparing a few of their best capo teams and getting the plan ready. They made sure to scout the place as well to see if there were any traps set and they didn't find any. So here they were in the back of a van on their way towards the apartment complex, getting their guns and other weapons ready, while going over the plan. 

Meanwhile, Harry and Niall were getting their team of officers ready to go out and hopefully capture the mafia boss of the _Red Devils_. Since this was such a big case they had a few more officers than normal on a team, a normal team had a bout 8-10 officers and now the teams were 10-20 officers. They also recruited the help of a few other captains, with clearance from their boss, to help make sure everything goes smoothly during this attack operation. 

"Ok, we all must be prepared for something to go wrong. I want you all to make sure you have a partner to watch your back and that you all stay safe if a shoot out ends up happening." Harry announces to the group as they finish getting ready to leave the agency.

"Also, please remember your training about what to do if you are to get captured or detained for any reason." Niall adds on to Harry's little speech. 

All the other officers and captains nod, and with one last look at everyone's faces Harry yells, "Clear out!" to everybody. They all leave to their assigned vehicles to make their way towards the destination.

Louis, Liam, and Zayn arrive at the apartment complex and silently make their way upstairs towards the apartment they were told Bill would be in. Louis told a few capo teams to stay outside to stand guard and look for any suspicious activity. 

"One, two, three" Louis mouths at Liam and Zayn before they break the door in and storm the apartment. They look around and go through all the rooms before concluding the apartment was empty.

"Shit." Louis mutters. But that's when he hears it. 

_Gunshots_.

He looks over at Liam and Zayn as they stare at him. Zayn looks slightly worried, with wide eyes, while Liam just looks at him with an 'I told you so' look. Louis rolls his eyes at him and nods, signaling for them to make their way out. 

Liam and Zayn make sure to flank Louis and protect them as they make their way towards the back of the building, to where it is hopefully less likely to get shot. 

When they open the door it looks clear and they start making their way towards one of the other escape vehicles they had set up back here just in case. But, of course it wasn't that easy. 

"NOW!" They hear a deep voice shout. and all of a sudden agents come out of the bushes and start surrounding and firing at Louis, Liam, Zayn, and the capo team that was there to protect the mob boss. 

"PROTECT LOUIS!" Zayn yells to the capos who all nod and surround the three boys. The capos start shooting back at the other agents and knocking a few of them down, but not without injury to themselves. Zayn looks over and glances between Liam and Louis. Liam gets the message and stands back to back with Louis to protect him as he starts making his way towards the vehicle.

Before Louis opens the door to the vehicle he takes a quick look around and that's when he meets a pair of glowing green eyes. He remembers those eyes. They're the eyes that belong to _Him_.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry, Niall, and 2 teams were hiding at the back of the building in case they tried to get out through the back door. The 3 other teams were at the front of the building already fighting. You could hear a lot of gunshots and Harry was glad that they chose a less populated area to do this. Harry gets pulled out of his thoughts when he hears the door open. Three figures walk out with another group of people trailing behind them. The one on the left looks like a Greek god and the one on the right looks like a little puppy. Harry takes most notice of the one in the middle. He looks so familiar to him, yet he can't figure out why. When they get closer to the middle of the back parking lot Harry orders everyone to surround them.

"NOW!" Harry yells to the captains and teams. They all jump out and surround the three men and the group of people, whom Harry thinks, are probably there for extra protection.

All of a sudden gunshots are being fired on both sides of the fight. Harry hears someone yell, "PROTECT LOUIS!" and looks to see the puppy looking person start to protect the shorter one. Harry then realises the shorter one must be Louis, and that is who his target is. He takes a quick look at Niall and glances at Louis. Niall gets the message and nods, signaling that he will protect Harry while he goes after Louis.

Harry starts aiming his gun towards Louis' leg so he would be able to slow him down. He sees that Louis has stopped and realised that he was about to get into the van. Before he shoots he glances up to see Louis staring right at him. He stares into those ocean blue eyes, that shine like sapphires. That's when he realises why he looked so familiar. Those eyes belonged to _Him_. The one person who treated Harry right and was always there for him. His _Boobear_.

***flashback***

_"BOOBEAR! BOOBEAR!" Harry yelled as he runs through the field towards the boy with the messy fringe and startling blue eyes. Louis spun around at the sound of Harry's voice calling him. He had spun around just in time for Harry's body to collide with his and they both went tumbling down to the ground._

_"Hey Sun." Louis greeted a grinning and giggling Harry, who was laying on top of him._

_Harry hid his face in Louis' neck to try and quiet down his giggles, until he remembered why he had come here in the first place._

_"Boobear, can I ask you a question?" Harry asked, suddenly getting very serious. He rolled off from on top of Louis and sat up pulling his legs towards his chest._

_"You just did, but of course Sunshine." Louis replied, joining Harry in sitting up._

_"Is it ok for boys to like boys Boobear?" Harry asked self-consciously._

_Louis stared at Harry as he tried to understand why Harry would ask that. "Of course it is, Sunshine. Everyone should be able to love whoever they want." Louis responded, hoping to make Harry feel better with his answer._

_Harry looked at the ground with a small, faint smile playing on his lips. He looked up to make eye contact with Louis. Forest green eyes meeting ocean blue ones. "Well, I like you, a lot, Boobear."_

_"I like you a lot to, my sunshine." Louis said before going to tickle Harry's side to hear the magical sound of the boys giggle. He hoped he would never lose Harry. Little did he know._

***End of flashback***

Harry snaps out of his flashback when he hears a car door slam shut. He looks up to see Louis in the passenger seat of the car, looking directly at him. Harry doesn't know if he imagines it but he sees a flicker of recognition in Louis' eyes. Maybe he remembers too.

Before the car starts to drive away Harry remembers he was supposed to detain Louis, but since he's in the car he can't really shoot his leg anymore. So he does the next best thing, and making direct eye contact with Louis, he starts to shoot the tires of the car. 

Louis' eyes widen when he sees Harry start to shoot the car and yells at Liam to start driving away. He feels bad for leaving Zayn behind, but he knows he is safe and understands. He trusts he will get back to the base soon, hopefully in a healthy condition.

***

"Harry, you're one of our best captains and you never miss a shot! What happened out there?!" Mr. Smith, his boss, yells at his face.

Harry is sitting in his bosses office getting a scolding for not shooting. He had a great shot, but he couldn't bring himself to do that to Louis. To his _Boobear_.

"The gun didn't go off when I pulled the trigger. Must have been jammed." Harry replies calmly to his boss. He never thought that one day he would be lying through his teeth to his boss about a mafia leader, but then again the unexpected happens, plus his training didn't go to waste. 

"Fine." His boss sighs. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again." 

Harry nods and makes his way out of the office and towards his and Niall's work station.

"I know you lied about why you didn't shoot Hazza." Niall says as soon as Harry sits down. 

"I have no clue what you're talking about Nigel." Harry sighs out.

"Yes you do. You never call me Nigel unless you're trying to get me off your tail." 

And _'shit'_ Harry thinks. Sometimes having a best-friend who knows almost everything about you and is also a secret agent, makes it difficult to lie to them.

"Fine. I'll tell you, but not here, after work. First, I've got a letter to write to someone." Harry compromises. Niall nods, but is then confused as to why Harry would need to write a letter. He opens his mouth to ask but then Harry sends him a glare telling him to not question it any further. Niall holds his hands up in surrender and walks away, leaving Harry to figure out how he is going to get Louis to talk to him without thinking it's a trap. But, then he gets an idea. 

_Dear Boobear,_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooo cliffhanger. kind of?
> 
> anyway, hope you all enjoyed the chapter and thank you for reading.
> 
> thoughts?
> 
> don't forget to comment and vote!
> 
> lots of love,  
> -H


	8. Chapter 8

_Dear Boobear,_

_I hope you remember me because I could never forget you. I promise this isn't a trap, but there is sadly no way to let you know that that is the truth, so I hope you can trust me like you did when we were younger._

_I missed you, you know. after you moved away I was so lost without you there to help guide me. Eventually I found my way...kind of. I probably haven't made the best decisions sometimes. Like, maybe my fiance is not who I thought he was, or maybe I'm just unlucky._

_If you remember me and trust me, I want to meet up and talk about what we missed in our lives while we were apart._

_As always, all my love,  
_ _Your Sunshine._

Harry finishes writing the letter than goes and finds an officer he knows will do as he says.

"I want you to find a way to get this letter to the mob boss. Under any circumstances do not open that letter and do not tell anyone you are doing this. The people who need to know have already been told. Am. I. Clear?" Harry asks making sure to get his point across. He might jhave been a little too harsh seeing as the officer shakily nods and then runs off to go and do as HArry had asked. 

Harry returns to his and Niall's work station and sits down with a long exhale. Niall looks over at him curiously, but doesn't ask anything because Harry said he would tell him after work. So, the two of them just continue working, as if nothing was going on. All Harry and Niall could do was wait, but for completely different reasons. 

*** 

"Another letter came in and it looked like it was from an officer. We didn't open it yet cause the officer made sure to get the point across that only you can open it. We did try and see if there was any weapons in there without opening it and it seemed safe, so here you go." Liam says, whilst sliding the letter over the dark, oak desk towards Louis.

Louis opens the letter and reads it. And all he can think about are all the happy times they spent together just being carefree and being themselves. He may get a little jealous at the mention of a fiance, but no one needs to know that.

_'How could I ever forget you, my Sunshine.'_ Louis thinks.

No one could stop them or tell them what to do. Those were the times when he was truly happy. He still trusted his Sunshine, even after all these years and if he worked for a secret agency. He had only told the people closest to him about the boy who taught him how to love. He wonders if Harry did the same or if he kept it to himself, as his own little secret.

"Thank you. Can you two please go and make sure everyone is doing what they need to be doing? I have to go and write a response to this." Louis asks, while waving the letter around in a motion for Liam and Zayn to leave.

"Yeah, or course. What was in that letter?" Liam asks, with a slight smirk, before they exit the room.

"Nothing majorly important. Just an old friend asking for some help." Is all that Louis says. Liam and Zayn glance at each other than back at Louis. They're slightly confused, but they had an idea of what was in the letter and figured that there was a reason Louis was not telling them everything. With that in mind, they make their way out of the office, leaving Louis to write a response back to Harry.

***

"Why didn't you shoot him?" Niall asks, as soon as he and Harry had walked out of the agency and out of earshot of anybody.

Harry sighs. He has to tell Niall now, or else he'll just keep pestering and asking him until he finally snaps.

"I know Louis. That's why I didn't shoot him." Harry says. He watches Niall's facial expressions as he tries to figure out 

"What do you mean, 'You know Louis?' How?!?! You would have known what he looked like then when we started this case." Niall questions. He is beyond confused. How would Harry know Louis?

"That's not what I meant Ni. I, ore like, knew Louis. We were childhood best friends, but he moved away and we lost contact. He was also my first crush and how I found out I liked boys." Harry whispers the last part. 

"That...that's crazy. So you didn't shoot cause you still like him?" 

"I don't know Ni. I'm engaged for Christ's sake! Plus, it's been years since I last saw him, let alone talked to him." Harry exclaims, walking away from Niall to get into his car and get home. He wishes he didn't have to think about this right now. He just needs to get back to Noah. His fiance. The person he loves. He shouldn't be thinking about his first love. Nope. Not at all. But, he can't stop his thoughts from wandering. 

***

It was two days later when one of the officers came up to Harry with an envelope in hand. 

"This is for you. I don't know who it's from, but the person who gave it to me said to make sure you, and only you, got it." The person explains.

Harry was a little taken aback from the person running up to him, but still accepted the letter anyway. He hopes the letter is what he thinks it is. "Thank you. I think I know what this is." 

The officer nods and walks away, allowing Harry to go back to his work station and read the letter. Niall gives him a curious look as he sits down staring at the envelope. He hopes Louis got his letter and that this is his reply. 

_'Only one way to find out'_ He thinks and opens the letter.

_Dear Sunshine,_

_Of course I remember you. Who wouldn't? And if they don't, well sucks to be them. I'm trusting you with this one, I hope you wouldn't try to deceive me because that failed when we were younger. I could always tell when you were lying._

_I missed you too. I'm sorry I had to move away, but I couldn't stop it. My mother needed a change after the split. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you, but if it makes you feel any better, I definetly lost my way without you. I mean, have you seen me now?_

_So you have a fiance then. Are they nice? I hope whoever they are they treat you like you deserve to be treated. With lots of kindness and love. That's what you deserve even if you don't think so._

_I would love to talk to you, angel. Maybe we can meet up at the old warehouse. Tomorrow. I'm sure you know which one I'm talking about. I'll come alone as long as you do too. I want it to just be you and I for this._

_Lots of love,  
_ _Boobear._

Harry looks down at the letter with teary eyes and a faint smile on his lips. Oh, how he had missed Louis. He couldn't wait to get to see him again, without guns being involved. One night, and then he could see him again. Noah's probably going to kill him, hopefully not literally, but he needs to do this for himself.

He shreds the letter so that there is no evidence of it and looks up to see Niall already looking at him curiously. He sends him a small smile and they get back to work.


	9. Chapter 9

Harry wakes up and groans at the pain that shoots throughout his body. At first, he was confused as to why he was in pain, but then he remembered what he did last night. Or what someone did to him last night. _Noah_. Noah had been hard on him. He had small bruises around his wrists in the shape of a hand and there were fingerprint sized bruises on his hips. There were small dark spots scattered all over his neck as well. God, why did he agree to let Noah do what he wanted? He honestly has no clue anymore. He loves Noah. _Loved_ more like. He doesn't know what happened. Maybe he realised what Noah was actually doing was wrong and not love, or maybe he just wasn't good enough, because he couldn't love his fucking fiance. 

Harry groans and covers his face with his hands. He needs to stop thinking about this right now. Before Harry gets out of the bed he notices how it's cold again. Usually after a night together Noah would be there with him when he wakes up, but apparently not today. Now that Harry thinks about it, Noah has been out a lot more than usual. 

_'He's probably just been called in to work earlier'_ Harry thinks. He hopes that's the only reason, because the other reasons...No. Noah wouldn't do that. Would he? 

Harry stops his wandering thoughts and gets out of bed slowly. When he stands up he hisses at the pain that shoots up his back. He decides that a nice bath would hopefully help ease the pain, so that's what he does. He makes sure the water is warm before stepping in and relaxing. He turns on one of his playlists and closes his eyes while listening to the music. 

He cleans himself and gets out of the tub to finish his morning routine. It's a weekend so he doesn't need to wear a nice outfit out today. He can wear a more casual outfit to meet Louis in. Louis. Oh god, he is going to have an actual conversation with Louis for the first time in years. Why is he nervous? He knew Louis when they were younger and he's a secret agent, he can protect himself if worst comes to worst. Then again, Louis is now a mafia boss and could have changed since they were little kids. 

Harry sighs and puts on his outfit. He decided on wearing some skinny jeans and a sweatshirt, because you could never go wrong with those. The sweatshirt would also help cover up the scattered bruises on his neck and wrists, he hopes. He puts on his shoes and grabs his keys before leaving his house. He makes sure the door is locked, then gets in his car to go to the warehouse where he and Louis will meet.

***

Louis had already arrived at the warehouse and had been waiting for a few minutes, when he hears a car pull up. He can't believe this is actually happening. He's meeting the boy he first fell in love with, his only true love he has had, again after years of being separated with no contact. They have a lot to catch up on, that's for sure. 

Harry exits his car and turns around to make eye contact with Louis. He begins to walk towards Louis, but of course, with him being his clumsy self, he trips over a stone and falls straight onto Louis.

"Oops." Harry says with a little giggle, as he stares into Louis' deep blue eyes. He could get lost in those eyes forever if he wanted to.

"Hi." Louis says, with a fond smile. He doesn't know why he is still so fond of the curl-haired lad. Maybe it's because it's hard not to love him. He's a beautiful, clumsy man that just melts your heart.

"Well...that isn't the best way to start this, but there's no going back now." Harry says with a laugh. Louis thinks he could listen to Harry laugh forever and he would never get bored. His laugh is just beautiful and the way his eyes light up is the cherry on top.

"Nope. You just got to own it, eh?" Louis replies, laughing along as well. They both just sit there quietly chuckling for a little bit, and Harry can't help but admire the way Louis' eyes crinkle when he smiles or laughs, and how adorable it is. 

They just stand there staring at each other for awhile, taking in the fact that the other is real and that they're actually here. That's when Louis notices it. The slight pained expression on Harry's face, the hood of his hoodie covering his neck, and his sleeves pulled all the way down to cover his arms and wrists, creating sweater-paws. 

"What happened?" Louis asks Harry. Harry stares back at him wide-eyed and slightly confused.

"What do you mean?" 

"What happened? You're covering yourself up and you look like you're in pain. Don't tell me I'm wrong, I studied body language." Louis says before Harry could interrupt him.

"Nothing happened Louis, it's fine. I'm fine." Harry says with pleading eyes. He didn't want to talk about his fiance right now.

"Give me your hand, Harry." Louis says holding out his hand.

"No, it's fi-"

"Give. Me. Your. Hand. Harry." Louis repeats more firmly.

Harry sighs in defeat. He really didn't want to argue, and figured Louis would find away to get him to comply anyways, so he holds his hand out for Louis to take.

Louis quickly grabs his hand and rolls the sleeves up. What he finds is not what he expected. Their was a ring of bruises around Harry's wrists that were in the shape of a hand. He caught Harry of guard by tugging on his wrist to pull Harry closer to him. Then he pulled down Harry's hoodie to find small dark bruises scattered all over his neck. Louis could guess why Harry had the slightly pained expression and why he was walking a little lopsided. 

"Who did this?"

"No one, Louis. I honestly don't want to talk about him right now." Harry says pulling his hands back from Louis' grip.

"Alright sunshine, we don't have to talk about it. Just give me one word or a name and then I'll drop it." Louis compromises. He wants to know who had hurt Harry. He shouldn't have this many bruises if he was in a loving relationship. He also doesn't know why he still cares so deeply about the boy standing in front of him, he could protect himself. Apparently not though. There was something else going on that put Harry in trouble and Louis didn't like the thought of that for some reason.

"My fiance." Harry whispers with teary eyes. Louis walks up to him, so he can wrap his short arms around his waist and bring him in for a hug. He was careful not to hug too tight in fear of accidentally hurting Harry. Louis just holds Harry until his tears and little sniffles subside, and he is ready to talk again.

"So, what did I miss with you Boobear?" Harry asks with a genuine smile and questioning eyes.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again... i'm bored and this chapter was already written so you're getting it. also, be ready for the feels.
> 
> i hope you guys enjoy reading this book as much as i enjoy writing it! it means so much to me to see you all liking this book. ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ *virtual hug*

_"So what did I miss with you Boobear?" Harry asks with a genuine smile and questioning eyes._

"Nothing much. I'm still me, just a little bit older and more mature." Louis replies. He wasn't ready to get into the deep stuff right now. Maybe later.

"So you mean to tell me you're still the bubbly child I met years ago? And was best friends with, even though you're now a mafia leader?" Harry asks with a giggle. He seems to do that a lot around Louis he thinks. Maybe it's just the way Louis makes him feel safe, which is very contradicting to his persona.

"Yes, somewhere deep inside though. I'm that person around my friends and family." Louis says. Now that he thinks about it he hasn't talked to his sisters in a while. It's kind of difficult for him to, seeing as they would be in danger if someone sees him with them. He misses them so much. He misses his mum a lot as well.

"How's your mum? I remember how kind and caring she was whenever we would hang out." Harry says lost in thought. Louis feels his throat close up, as the overwhelming feeling of wanting to cry washes over him. His vision begins to blur as tears form in his eyes. Harry looks over at Louis, confused by his lack of an answer, only to see him on the verge of tears. He realises something must have happened to Jay and quickly scrambles to give the shorter boy a tight hug. He wrap his arms around Louis' body holding him close to his chest. He runs his fingers through Louis' hair as soft sobs rack through the boys body.

"I'm sorry, Boobear. It's alright, I'm here. I'm not going to let go until you want me too." Harry whispers into Louis' ear pulling the boy impossibly closer to him. Louis shakes his head, not trusting his voice enough to speak properly. Harry continues to whisper sweet words into Louis' ear while combing his hands through his hair to calm him down. Eventually, Louis' sobs die down into quiet sniffles, but he doesn't let go of Harry as he begins to talk.

"She's actually the reason I joined the mafia." Louis' face was still tucked into Harry's chest, that he missed Harry's confused face, but he still continued talking anyway. "She got sick...really sick." Louis sniffles. "She got cancer and we didn't have enough money to pay the medical bills. My two jobs weren't cutting it so I asked if I could do a few jobs for the mafia and I ended up getting sucked in too deep." Louis says releasing a shaky breath. "After she...after she passed, I didn't know what to do or where to go, so I made some bad decisions and ended up sticking with the mafia. And now I'm here. A mafia boss. God, my mum would be so disappointed in me, Sunshine." Louis says, his voice cracking as another wave of sobs hit him.

"Hey, hey, Boobear. None of that now. I'm sure she is so proud of you. Yeah, you may have not made the best choices with your lifestyle, but she probably understands why you did it. She's probably also happy that you're alive and healthy. In fact, I think she is watching over you and protecting you." Harry says to Louis, holding his face in his hands. He gives Louis a sincere look showing he means what he says. Louis' eyes begin to gloss over again and he tucks his head into Harry's neck and wraps his arms around Harry. They stay there for awhile. Just soaking up each other's warmth and comfort. They didn't realise how much they had actually missed each other until they were back in each other's arms.

"You know what, Hazzabear?" Louis asks Harry. Harry just raises an eyebrow and hums in recognition for Louis to continue. "My mum would have loved to have seen who you've become. She loved you like a second son. Sometimes I think she loved you more than me." Louis says, and Harry can't help but let out a quiet chuckle and cuddle the boy closer to him. They were perfectly content just staying there and not talking. And if they stayed like that, cuddled up in each other's arms, catching up on what they missed with each other for the rest of the day, then no one had to know.

***

Harry arrives back home close to dinner time. He and Louis had ended up spending most of the day together just talking and making each other laugh and smile more in one day than they had in the past few years. He checks the time and realises that Noah would be home and that he needs to make dinner.

"Noah?" He calls as he enters the house. The house seems eerily quiet, but Harry just shrugs it off thinking Noah may have been called late to work again. Harry decides that he should start on dinner so that's what he does. He gets out everything he needs and begins cooking. 

It's an hour or so later when Harry hears Noah stumble into the house. He has just finished cooking dinner so he thought he should go greet Noah and let him know. Harry, however, was unaware of the amount of alcohol Noah had consumed. While Harry thought Noah was called late to work, he had really been out and about drinking, pissed at the fact that Harry hadn't been home earlier. So, when the curly-haired lad walked into the entryway, he was met with an angry glare that belonged to no one, other than _Noah_.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is also some violence at the beginning of this chapter so be prepared.

_So, when the curly-haired lad walked into the entryway, he was met with an angry glare that belonged to no one, other than Noah._

That's when all hell broke lose. Noah throws the beer bottle in his hand towards Harry. Thankfully, Harry ducks away in time for it to hit the wall and he watches as it shatters into a million pieces. Harry looks up at Noah wide eyed.

"What the hell Noah?!" Harry yells at Noah, which wasn't a good idea as he seems to only get angrier at Harry's tone.

"Where. Were. You?" Noah asks. His voice was surprisingly calm and that's what scared Harry even more. He slowly begins to back away so he would be able to grab his phone to call for help.

"I told you I was going to meet up with an old friend today. I did warn you I would most likely be out the whole day, but I did say I would be back in time to make dinner, which I did." Harry says, lowering his voice to a normal talking tone. He didn't want to make Noah angrier than he already is. Although he could protect himself, Noah had the advantage here. Harry still hadn't recovered since last night's activities and was still finding it a little difficult to move without too much pain. If he were to try and fight Noah, he would probably end up hurting himself more and make it easier for Noah.

"Which friend were you visiting?! Huh?! Or will you not tell me because you're cheating on me?!" Noah bellows. As Noah spoke those words it was Harry's breaking point and he was furious as hell.

"How dare you accuse me, me of all people, of cheating?! Noah, you know I could never do that to a person!" Harry spits towards the man. He makes direct eye contact with Noah, challenging him. "Unlike you!" Harry says and points a finger towards Noah. That's when Noah completely snaps.

Soon Noah was storming towards Harry. Harry backs away in fear because this has never happened between them before, and he doesn't know what to do. Noah crowds Harry up against the counter in the kitchen , trapping him between the cool marble and his body. Harry is afraid, but he still keeps eye contact to show Noah he wasn't going to back down. Noah then suddenly kisses him and Harry is too caught of guard with the intense taste and smell of alcohol that is coming off of Noah and how his hands were holding onto his body. He doesn't pay attention much to where Noah's hands are, too busy trying to pry Noah away from himself, that when he feels a hand wraps around his throat he isn't prepared. His eyes widen in surprise and he stares up at Noah as his breathing becomes more and more ragged, already slightly out of breath from Noah kissing him. Suddenly he remembers that he hadn't finished cleaning up after making dinner and he was thankful that there was a knife sitting beside him on the counter. He quickly scrambles to reach towards the knife, keeping eye contact with Noah to try and make sure he doesn't see what he is doing. He grabs a hold of the knife once he feels the handle and brings it up towards Noah's arm and slices it, to create a deep gash. Noah screams in agony as blood pours down his arm and Harry catches his breath. Noah glares at him but Harry doesn't care anymore.

"I. Am. Done. Noah." Harry shakily says as he removes his engagement ring from his finger and throws it into the pool of blood by Noah's arm. He quickly grabs his personal and work phone and his work bag that had extra clothes in it and rushes out of the house.

"It's a good thing I never loved you anyway! I was also cheating on you cause you suck!" HArry hears Noah shout just as he closes the door.

He makes it as far as he possibly can and finally breaks down collapsing to the floor. He can barely breathe from his windpipe still healing after being crushed and running for so long. He quickly pulls out his personal phone, thankful he has one so his work can't track his calls, and dial's the one number that he trusts for help right now.

_"'Ello?"_ He hears from the other side of the phone.

"Louis..." Harry chokes out. His voice is barely audible with how hoarse it is from the relentless sobs wracking throughout his body, and his still healing throat.


	12. Chapter 12

_"Louis..." Harry chokes out. His voice is barely audible with how hoarse it is from the relentless sobs wracking throughout his body, and his still healing throat._

"Harry? What happened are you okay?" Louis frantically asks. He could hear Harry taking ragged breaths and choking back sobs and wanted to know why Harry is calling him in this state.

_"I don't know, Louis! I can't believe he actually did that!" Harry cries out over the phone._

His sobs begin to grow and get louder as his breath comes out in short and choppy. He seems to be struggling breathing and Louis doesn't know why and he is scared for Harry's well being, even though they've only gotten to know each other again a few hours ago.

"Hey? Harry? Angel, I need you to take deep breaths in for me ok? Can you do that? Just follow me." Louis says, slowly breathing in and holding his breath, then exhaling slowly. He does it for a few minutes until he hears Harry's breathing begin to calm down again. "Can you tell me what happened Harry?"

_"Can you pick me up? I don't want to do talk about it over the phone." Harry whispers._

"Yes, I can. Where are you, Sunshine?" Louis asks. He sees Liam staring at him curiously as he reaches for his car keys. He just waves Liam off mouthing that he's just going out for a drive.

_"I'm sitting on a bench at the park." Harry says._

Louis notices how he seems to be breathing easier now, although it still sounds like a slight wheeze, and his sobs have subsided to little sniffles every once in a while. Harry didn't have to specify the location of the park since their was only one main park in the city, so Louis opened his door telling Harry he would be there soon, and goes to hang up. Before he hung up however, Harry whispers four words.

_"Can you stay, please"_

"Of course." Louis agrees. He's not upset that Harry wanted to stay on the line. Hearing the sound of the car and Louis' breathing were probably what Harry needed to stay grounded right now so Louis just stays on the call as he drives heading towards Harry.   
  
  


***  
  
  


When Louis arrives at the park, he sees a figure sitting on a bench with their head hung low and hunched shoulders that are shaking slightly. He doesn't want to scare Harry so he quietly whispers into the phone.

"Love? I'm here. Do you want me to come to you or do you want to come to me?"

_"Can you come here please?" Harry asks, barely above a whisper._

Louis hums in agreement then exits his car. He walks up to the bench Harry is sat at in front of the pond and sits beside him. He doesn't make a move or say anything yet, waiting for Harry to feel comfortable enough to explain. 

"I cut Noah with a knife." Harry says monotonously.

Louis' head snaps up and he looks over at Harry with wide eyes. He wasn't expecting Harry to say that at all. However, when he looks Harry over, he notices the bruises on Harry's neck and the way Harry is staring off into the distance blankly, as if he's here but not here. Louis doesn't say anything and waits for Harry to continue, while quietly observing the boy's behaviour.

"He was drunk when he stumbled into the house after I had finished making dinner. I went to greet him and he was mad that I was home late. He threw his beer bottle at me and I yelled at him confused, but that just made him more mad. He asked where I was and I told him how I said I would be out meeting a friend for the whole day and that I would make dinner when I got home. I didn't want to fight cause I was still in pain and having trouble, but then he accused me of cheating and I yelled at him furious he would ever think such a thing. I accused him back and that's when he snapped. He trapped me between him and the counter top and kissed me. I was caught of guard long enough and he wrapped his arm around my neck and started choking me." Harry briefly stopped talking to bring a hand up to rub his neck as a small sob escaped his lips. Louis reaches out a hand to rest it on Harry's shoulder giving him comfort, but not wanting to push in case Harry didn't feel safe after what happened. "I grabbed the knife that was on the counter next to me and sliced his arm so he would let go. He did, and I tried catching my breath and quickly took of my ring and threw it at him telling him it was over. I grabbed a small amount of necessities and ran out of their as fast as I could and right before I left the house he told me he never loved me and that he was cheating on me..." Harry started sobbing again and falls into Louis' embrace. Louis just holds him tight and whispers sweet nothings into Harry's ear while telling him to breath slowly, to calm him down. "What do I do Boobear?" Harry cries into his neck.

"Well, how about we get you cleaned up and situated and then we can talk about that. Do you have a place to go tonight?" Louis asks. Harry shakes his head as he silently sobs into Louis' chest. "That's ok. I have a flat that I use sometimes not to far way from here. Do you want to stay there?" Harry nods his head but doesn't make a move to move out of Louis' grip.

Louis hears Harry's breathing begin to slow and feels his eyelashes flutter against his neck where Harry's head is tucked. He maneuvers Harry around so that he can pick him up bridal-style and carries him back towards his car. He sets Harry down in the passenger seat and gets in the drivers' seat and begins driving towards his flat. He tries to drive around the holes and bumps in the road so Harry can get some rest and let his body begin to heal. Louis can't help but keep sharing secret glances towards Harry while he is asleep. He looks so peaceful, the way his face relaxes, besides the evident bruises and small frown on his lips.

Louis arrives at the flat, thankful it's a secluded place and night, so no one would be able to see him and Harry. He carefully picks Harry up again and brings him inside. He gently lays Harry down on the bed, his hair in all sorts of directions and a slight frown set on his lips, but Louis still thinks he looks adorable. He is thankful Harry is still in comfortable clothes so he will be able to sleep. He decides to let Harry sleep for the night and treat the bruises and any other injuries in the morning when Harry is rested and feeling a bit better. Louis begins to leave the bedroom to go sleep on the couch, leaving Harry the bed so he can be comfortable. Before he leaves however, a hand grabs his wrist lightly to turn him around. He looks down to see Harry's hand on his wrist.

"Can you stay please, Boobear?" Harry whispers out brokenly.

"Of course, Sunshine." Louis quietly replies. He changes into some sweats and climbs into the bed behind Harry. Harry turns around and cuddles into Louis' chest for warmth and comfort, while Louis wraps his arms around Harry pulling him closer and leaving a kiss in his curls before Harry falls back asleep. Louis sends a text to Liam and Zayn, telling them he won't be back at the base tonight and to call him if anything happens. After that, he cuddles into Harry as well and drifts off into a sleep full of memories from their childhood.


	13. Chapter 13

Harry wakes up to the feeling of someone rubbing there hand up and down his back in a soothing manner. He buries his face further into the chest of the person under him and lets out a groan, but it was barely audible due to the soreness of his throat. That's when he remembers what happened last night and all the memories come flooding in. His eyes snap open and he sits up straight, his hands coming up to reach for his throat due to the feeling of not being able to breathe. He looks over to see Louis staring at him with worried and caring eyes.

"I- I ca- can't. sp- speak." Harry wheezes out as tears start to form in his eyes from the roughness of his throat when he tries to talk or inhales.

"Sunshine, I know it hurts, but I need you to calm down or it's only going to get worse. You don't need to talk right now you need to let your throat heal." Louis says sitting up to bring Harry's hands towards his chest to try and give him something to hold and stay grounded. "I'll ask you questions and you just nod or shake your head so you don't use your voice, ok?" Harry nods his head in reply, his breathing still ragged and his body beginning to shake. "Ok, I want you to try following my breathing. Ready? In, hold, and out. That's good. In, hold, and out." Louis repeats as he keeps hold of Harry's hands and makes eye contact with him. Louis watches as Harry winces at the feeling of breathing deeply, but he knows it will be better than him breathing too fast to the point it would become almost to difficult to inhale.

"Better?" Louis asks. Harry nods and lays back down on the bed staring at the ceiling. Louis sees his eyes go distant and decides to give Harry some space while he goes and gets some food and water for them. He also grabs some ibuprofen for the pain and an ice pack to put against Harry's neck to help keep the welling down.

While Louis is still collecting everything Harry receives a message and the sound of his phone going of snaps him out of his thoughts. He picks up his phone to find a message from Niall.

_From Nialler:_   
_hey, haz, are you ok? you're normally never this late for work._

That's when Harry notices the time. _8:28_ _am_. He was supposed to be at work over an hour ago. "Shit." He mutters, but it doesn't even sound like a word with his wrecked voice.

_To Nialler:_   
_Sorry, Ni. Some stuff came up. I won't be at work today. I promise I'll explain everything later._

_From Nialler:_   
_ok. stay safe hazza._

He lets out a long sigh as Louis walks back into the room. He quickly emails his boss letting him know that he isn't able to come into work and receives one back less than a minute later. It consisted of his boss talking about how he is the best captain and he's going to be missed for however long he is gone and that he hopes he is well. He thanks his boss then turns his phone off and faces Louis to see what he bought back.

"I got you some water so your throat isn't dry, ibuprofen for the pain, and an ice pack to help keep down the swelling. And, if you feel up to it, I got some eggs to eat. So, do you want to start with the water and ibuprofen then we can put the ice on it?" Louis asks. Harry nods his head and reaches for the glass and pill that Louis hands him. He puts the pill in his mouth then swallows it down with the water. The pain of swallowing the pill made Harry scrunch up his face, but drinking the water helped sooth the dryness and heat of his throat, sending a cool rush through his body. He hands the glass back to Louis, who sets it down and grabs the ice pack and wraps it in a towel. He then sits next to Harry on the bed and brings the ice pack up to Harry's neck. Harry flinches at the cold contact but eventually settles and reaches up to put his hand on top of Louis' to hold it against he neck as well. When their hands touch Harry and Louis make eye-contact, but quickly look away. "I'll go... umm, get you a pen and paper so you can write stuff down if you need to answer a question that isn't yes or no. Will you be ok for a minute or two?" Louis asks removing his hand from under Harry's on the ice pack. Harry stiffly nods and Louis exits the room to get the notepad and pen.

Louis walks back in to give Harry the notepad and they spend a few hours treating Harry's neck and making sure it heals while talking some more. Or well, Louis talking and Harry writing down his answers and thoughts. A few hours later Harry's phone goes off again and he lets out a quiet grunt before picking it up to look at the message. When he sees what it says he goes completely still. Louis looks up at Harry to see him staring wide eyed at his phone in shock. "Fuck." He hears Harry brokenly mutter.

"What happened?" Louis asks Harry. Harry doesn't reply. Instead, he turns his phone towards Louis so he can read the message for himself.

_We got a lead on Louis Tomlinson._


	14. Chapter 14

_We got a lead on Louis Tomlinson._

Louis reads the message and looks back at Harry. They stare at each other both trying to process the situation before the ringing of Harry's phone breaks their trance. Harry picks up his phone to see who is calling him.

_Incoming call from: Nialler_

Harry sighs and hovers over the answer button before pressing it and answering the phone call.

"Hey, Hazza. We got a lead on Louis and wanted to let you know to see if you could come in and help us because we're going out onto the field." Niall says quickly once Harry answers the phone.

"Niall," Harry croaks. He's able to partially talk now after putting ice on it and taking care of it, but it's still painful and his voice is not very coherent all the time. "I told you I can't come in." Harry tries to speak clearly.

"Are you sick, Haz?" Niall asks. Harry decides to take this as his chance and uses his damaged throat to his advantage. 

"Yeah, that's why I can't come in. Umm, what was the lead you said you got?" Harry decides to change the topic from him to try and figure out what's happening with the lead. 

"We got some info of someone saying they saw someone who looked similar to Louis walk into an apartment complex. They also said he seemed to have someone with him." Niall clarifies. Harry's breath catches in his throat as he looks over to Louis in horror. 

"And what are you guys doing about the lead?" Harry whispers out. He gets out of the bed to start pacing while Louis just looks at him confused.

"Well we sent an officer earlier to scout the place and it seems pretty abandoned, so we are going to go and raid it to catch him off guard." Niall replies. 

"Shit." Harry mutters. He quickly picks up the notepad and writes down what is going on and hands it to Louis.

_They know you are here and are coming. We need to leave._

Louis looks up at him with wide eyes and then begins packing the important things they need into two bags for them to carry while they make their escape. 

"Sorry, I can't be of help Nialler. Hope the mission goes well." Harry says as Louis begins to open one of the windows so they can climb out of the flat and take a back route, to somewhere Harry doesn't know. 

"It's ok Haz, I understand why you can't make it. Hope you feel better, and I'll update you when we're done. We're leaving now so I gotta go. Bye Haz!"

"Bye Niall." Harry says before hanging up the phone. He turns around to see Louis getting a gun out from a hidden compartment. "What the hell?! Why are you getting a gun out?!" Harry asks incredulously, although his voice is still scratchy and cracks every few syllables.

"Well if they're coming here I want to be armed in case they shoot me. Which they probably will." Louis explained in a 'duh' tone while making sure the gun was loaded.

"They know you have someone with you." Harry whispers out. "Also, where are we going to go?"

"Shit. Umm, I can't take you back to base... Could we go to your house?" Louis asks. He knows it's a long shot and maybe- probably- a terrible idea, but it's all they've got right now.

Harry's eyes widen at the question. "Are you serious?!" He whisper-yells, and Louis nods. "I mean I guess we can. I just hope Noah isn't there. He shouldn't be though, he's got work today..." Harry says as he shakes his head. Louis opens his mouth to say something, but before he can there's the sound of quiet footsteps approaching the door of the apartment.

Louis and Harry look at each other before rushing to pick up the bags Louis got ready and jumping out of the window as quickly and quietly as possible. Thankfully it isn't a far drop so they easily land on their feet just as the door to the apartment opens. They begin running down the alley way that is connected to an open street, where from there they can head towards Harry's house. Louis doesn't know where it is, so Harry has to lead the way. He hopes the agency is coming after him, and if they are that they don't recognise him or else he is in big trouble. 

After ten minutes of sprinting and taking twists and turns to escape the officers, they slow to a stroll pulling the hoods of their hoodies up enough to hide their faces, but not seem suspicious. Harry's breathing is erratic again and he is wheezing because his throat is still healing. Louis hands him a water bottle he brought along for this reason and Harry sends him a grateful smile before gulping half of it down. 

"We're about a fifteen minute walk from my house." Harry says. Louis nods and rests a hand over the bump where his gun is located, tucked into the waistband of his pants. They continue to walk in a comfortable silence while keeping a watchful eye out. 

About fifteen minutes later they arrive at Harry's house. They walk up to the front door as Harry reaches into his pockets to get his keys, only to realise he didn't grab them on his rush to leave the house.

"What's wrong?" Louis asks, watching Harry feel around all of his pockets. Harry sighs once he is sure he doesn't have them on him.

"I didn't grab my keys when I was running out of the house." He says sadly. Louis just shrugs and pulls his gun out, slamming it against the door knob knocking it off the door. The door slowly creaks open and Louis pushes it open and steps inside. 

"That's one way to do it." Harry mutters. He follows Louis into the house only to see him standing rigid and staring in front of him. 

"Nice, to see you Harry. And you brought your friend this time. Tell me is this the one you were cheating on me with?" Noah says. Harry's body goes rigid as he brings his eyes to meet Noah's. That son of a bitch had a sadistic smirk on his face, eyeing Harry up and down. Harry feels tears form in his eyes as he stares at the man he thought loved him, but only used him for his own pleasure. Harry went to say something but the smell of blood that was still in the house had him gagging, ruining his already wrecked voice, making him unable to speak. Louis sees his struggle and decides to take matters into his own hands. 

"You must be Noah. How nice to meet you." Louis says sending Noah a fake smile before shooting him in the foot. 


	15. Chapter 15

Harry lets out a surprised yelp at the sound of the gunshot, but the sound is drained out by the loud scream Noah let's out as the pain in his foot begins to grow. Noah doubles over in pain and falls onto the floor.

"What the fuck Louis!" Harry tries to yell at the smirking Louis beside him. 

"What? He deserved it." Louis says nonchalantly, walking up to Noah with a devious smile and spinning the gun around in his hand. Noah cowers back into the wall out of fear of the approaching man. "Why are you so scared? I thought you were supposed to be the big bad wolf." Louis says. He makes direct eye contact with Noah before pressing his finger into the bullet wound making Noah scream again and tears stream down his face out of pain. 

"Wha- What the- the fuck is wrong with you?" Noah stutters out through his heavy breathing and the overwhelming pain shooting throughout his body. 

"Oh, nothing's wrong with me Noah. Just thought you deserved a little pain after what you did." Louis says. He puts pressure on the bullet wound one more time before grabbing Noah's head and banging it against the wall behind him, hard enough to knock him out, but not hard enough to kill him. Louis stands up to face Harry who has his mouth ajar and watches as his eyes flicker back and forth between him and Noah. "Better close your mouth Harry, you'll catch flies like that." Louis says before sauntering down the hallway into the kitchen. 

Harry quickly shuts his mouth before following Louis into the kitchen and sending one last glance towards Noah's body slumped against the wall before he is out of sight. Once he walks in he notices that the smell of blood increased and looks at the floor to see the pool of blood from his escape earlier. 

_'Of course he wouldn't clean it up'_ Harry thinks as he lets out a long sigh. 

"What are you doing?" Louis asks as he watches Harry get out bleach and a cloth. 

"Cleaning up the pool of blood cause it stinks." Harry replies as he puts some bleach on the ground and begins scrubbing at the floor. Louis sighs and walks up to Harry. He puts a hand around Harry's bicep making him stop and send a questioning glance towards him. Louis just shakes his head and heaves Harry up from his kneeling position on the floor. Apparently, Louis overestimated his strength and pulled to hard so that Harry ended up falling on top of him pushing him up against the counter and trapping him. Harry quietly gasps making eye contact with Louis before quickly scrambling off of him and turning around to hide his blush. He doesn't know why he is blushing. Maybe he's just embarrassed, yeah that's why. 

"There's no need to clean it up. we're not staying here long." Louis says as Harry turns back around to face him. Thankfully, Louis doesn't notice the faint blush still on Harry's cheeks and Harry lets out an almost silent sigh of relief.

"You might not be, but this is still my house and I still live here. I guess I'll just kick Noah out once he wakes up." Harry says rubbing his temples and then his throat as it's starting to get more irritated again after all this talking. 

"Don't worry about kicking Noah out. I have a place for him." Louis says with an evil glint in his eyes and a smirk as he looks in the general direction of where Noah's body is. He slowly turns to look at Harry's confused face and lets out a quiet chuckle.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Harry questions as he walks towards a cupboard to get a glass and fill it up with water for his throat. 

"Don't you worry your pretty little head, curly." Louis says and ruffles Harry's curls as he comes to stand by him again. 

"Curly?" Harry questions with a small smile.

"Yeah. Curly. It suits you." Louis replies. He then pulls out his phone and sends a message to Liam and Zayn telling him he is bringing back a hostage to the base and to get a cell ready. Harry watches on curiously as Louis texts someone before his phone goes off signaling he received a message himself. 

_From Nialler:  
louis wasn't there. the apartment seemed to be empty, so either the lead was false or someone told him we were coming, but we have no clue who._

Harry's heart stops for a second at the mention of Niall realising someone could have told Louis, but then he remembers there's no way they would think it was him and they didn't see him or Louis together. 

_To Nialler:  
That's bad Ni. Sorry I couldn't be of assistance. Hopefully my throat will be better soon and I can come back in and help._

_From Nialler:  
i'm going to drop by this afternoon and make you some soup. and don't say no cause i'm already leaving work and heading your way. _

_To Nialler:  
You really don't have to Niall, I'm perfectly fine. _

Harry knows it's a long shot to get Niall to go to his own house instead of coming to Harry's but he's go to try. 

_From Nialler:  
It's fine haz. i'll be there in 20._

"Shit" Harry mutters. He looks at Louis to find him still messaging someone. "Hey Lou?" Louis hums in acknowledgment and Harry continues. "Do you have a way to get to wherever you need to be because my friend who was running the mission today is coming over in 20 mins and I still need to clean and make it look like someone didn't bleed on the floor." 

Louis' thumbs stop moving over the keyboard of his phone and he slowly lifts his head up so his eyes can meet Harry's. Harry is honestly kind of scared with the look Louis is giving him but brushes it off hoping he's not on the receiving end of that. "Umm, yeah I think I can. Let me send a message for a pickup. Oh, I'm also taking Noah with me so don't worry about him." Louis says.

Harry is a little taken aback by Louis' statement but nevertheless slowly nods and gets the bleach again to start cleaning the floor. He faintly hear's Louis on the phone with someone, but pays no mind to what he is saying. He just wants to make the house look presentable and not like two people almost died within the span of 24 hours. Harry begins humming a little tune while cleaning up and gets lost in his own world that he doesn't notice the way Louis is looking at him with a fond smile and an unidentified look in his eyes. It wasn't until Louis' phone vibrated in his hand that he realised he had been staring for awhile and he shakes his head to get whatever he was thinking about out of his head. He looks at his phone and it's a message from Liam saying that they are here and bought the van to put Noah's body in. "Hey, curly, my rides here. I've got Noah so you just continue cleaning up. Sorry I couldn't be of much more help, Sunshine."

"It's ok Loubear. If you don't mind me asking, what are you gonna do with Noah? He didn't do anything to you that I know of." Harry asks furrowing his eyebrows in concentration and pinching his bottom lip between his thumb and pointer finger. 

"Oh, I know he didn't do anything to me, Sun. I also told you not to worry. He deserves what is going to happen to him." Louis says before smirking and coming up to Harry to give him a hug. They stay there for a few seconds just holding each other before Louis is unravelling his arms from around Harry's body and going into the hallway, grabbing Noah's ankles to drag him out of the house. Harry just watches as two guys get out of the van to help him. Harry recognises them from the shoot out they had and sends them a small wave when they look up to the doorway. He shuts the door and watches the van drive away and waits for Niall to arrive. 

Not even five minutes later Harry hears a car pull up and a door slam shut before a series of loud knocks come from the door. Harry smiles at the antics of his best mate before he opens the door only to be jumped on by Niall who just kisses Harry all over his face before looking Harry over to make sure he's ok. 

"You aren't sick are you Hazza?" Niall asks as his hand reaches up to thumb over one of the light bruises on Harry's neck, making the latter flinch. 

"You already know the answer so why are you asking?" Harry quietly says as he pushes Niall off of him so he can stand up and walk to the kitchen. Niall follows behind him with a worried look. 

"When did it happen and why didn't you tell anyone?" Niall asks.

"Yesterday. After I met with... someone. He was mad and drunk, threw a bottle at, me and then choked me, so I sliced his arm." Harry recites the story almost letting slip that he was with Louis. Niall notices his hesitance but decides not to dwell on it seeing the state Harry is in. 

"Well where is Noah? Because I don't want you to be around him after this. I already told you he wasn't good." Niall chastises Harry.

"I kicked him out...?" Harry says, but it sounds more like a question. Harry brings his hand up to rub the back of his neck, only to flinch at the pressure he accidentally puts on the bruises. Niall notices his pained face and drops the suspicious look he was giving Harry to get ice for him. Harry sends Niall a grateful look and puts the ice on his throat before walking to the living room to sit down. Niall follows him only to see Harry looking at the wall in deep thought. He sighs and heads back to the kitchen to make some food, to give Harry some space and so that he knows Harry has eaten something.

He gets out the ingredients for a quick soup because it will hopefully be the easiest thing to eat with Harry's throat. It doesn't take him long to finish and soon he is walking back into the living room with two bowls of soup. He hands one to Harry who just silently eats the soup while still staring at the wall. Niall sighs at his behaviour and realises he is going to have to be the one to start the conversation. 

"Do you wanna talk about it?" 

"Already did." Harry says before his mind can process what he is saying and his eyes widen.

"Who did you talk to?"

"No one."

"That's not true Haz. Who did you talk to?"

" I said no on-"

"Just tell me who!" Niall said exasperated. 

"Louis..." Harry sighs out. He's given up on trying to keep it a secret from Niall. He had always been there for him when something happened and he really needed a friend right now.

"Wh- What?" 

"Louis." Harry says once again before going back to eating his soup. Niall just stares at Harry at a loss of words because that was not the answer he was expecting. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: things used for violence are described (idk how to really explain it but i don't want people to be uncomfortable but then again they are reading a mafia book so :/ )

"Louis? As in Louis Tomlinson? _The Louis Tomlinson,_ that we are supposed to detain and bring in?" Niall asks. Harry just groans and hides his face in his hands out of embarrassment and fear of what Niall's reaction is going to be.

"Yes, Niall, that Louis." Harry rasps out.

"So someone did help Louis out of the apartment, and it was you." Niall thinks out loud. Harry huffs out a breath and slowly nods his head, even though the thought wasn't directed at him. "We're gonna get in so much trouble if we get caught." Niall says shaking his head.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Harry inquires, confused as to why Niall would use 'we'. Harry was the one who met up with Louis and helped him escape not Niall, so why would he use 'we'?

"Did you really think I wasn't going to help my best mate out?" Niall asks in disbelief. Harry just slowly nods his head, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "I mean I'm hesitant for sure, he's a fucking mafia boss, but you seem to know him and you're ok with him so I can give him a chance." Niall explains to ease Harry's confusion. They don't talk anymore after that. Harry tries to understand why Niall is getting into this mess with him and then his thoughts drift over to what Louis is doing. Niall just turns on the TV and let's Harry think while listening to the low hum of the show that is playing in the background.   
  
  


***  
  
  


"Why did you want to bring him in?" Liam asks Louis through the door separating the front and back of the van. They are driving back to the base after leaving Harry's house and Liam and Zayn are both confused as to why Louis was there, but they decide not to question it yet. Louis just continues to stare at Noah's unconscious body, who's foot is still leaking blood, before he answers.

"He did a horrible thing to a person who didn't deserve it." Is all Louis says. He doesn't specify what he did or to whom, he just states it as simply as possible, and all Liam and Zayn can do is accept his vague explanation.

"Why were you with that dude? What's his name even?" Liam asks. Louis freezes at the question because he doesn't know if he should tell them about their past and who Harry actually is. "We recognised him from the fight Louis, don't think we're stupid. He works at an agency and you were with him like you are old friends." If only Liam knew how true that statement was. Louis debates whether or not he should tell Zayn and Liam, and decides he should, so that they know why he is hanging out with a secret agent even though he is a mafia boss, but he leaves out certain details.

"His name is Harry, and he actually is an old friend. A childhood friend to be exact. Before shit hit the fan and everything came crumbling down, I knew him and we were friends. I've actually told you about him before, I'm sure you know what I mean." Louis says. He stills as he sees Noah stir slightly and goes to make sure the ropes around his wrists and ankles are tight enough, and then grabs the cloth drenched in Chloroform and Diazepam, sitting beside his body. He holds the rag over Noah's nose and mouth, making it so he has to breathe in the chemicals. He sits there for a few minutes holding the rag up against Noah's face until his eyes roll to the back of his head again as he loses consciousness. While Louis is busy knocking Noah out again, Liam and Zayn are trying to figure out what Louis meant by they already knew Harry. They had never seen or talked to Harry before. However, they soon realise what Louis means. Louis rarely ever talks about his childhood and only told Zayn and Liam about his first love and that's when they connect the dots as to who Harry is, and why Louis was with him, even after he had tried shooting them all.

"Harry is _him_?" Zayn questions putting an obvious emphasis on the 'him', even though he already knows the answer.

"Yes Zayn, Harry is him." Louis says stepping away from Noah's body and just glaring at him. He knows who Harry is and he shouldn't be hurt like Noah hurt him. Louis is still confused as to how he and Harry were engaged or if Noah forced him into that too. Louis sighs and rubs his hands down the side of his face. Why does he care so much? Harry's probably changed? But, has he really? He still seemed like the fun, bubbly kid he was when they were younger.

Louis groans as the memories flood his mind again. At least he can take out all of his frustration on Noah when they get back to the base. Speaking of which, they arrive not even seconds later. Once they park the van, capos are coming up and looking at Louis for orders. "Take him to cell 3. I want him tied up to the chair by his ankles, arms, hands, and chest. Make sure it's the metal chair so he can't break it by falling out of it, because I know he's going to want to try that. Oh, also make sure to gag him so I don't have to hear his unnecessary and annoying yells for help." Louis instructs kicking Noah's body and hopping out of the van before shooing the capos away. They salute at him before roughly grabbing Noah's body, not really caring for his comfort, and dragging him towards the basement cells of the base.

"What are you planning to do to him anyway?" Liam asks cautiously. They know that sometimes Louis doesn't like to be questioned on why he is bringing someone in, whether it is for torture or ransom. Louis, instead of pushing them away, just smiles a sadistically before turning away and leaving Liam and Zayn in fear of what he is going to do.

"Are you two scaredy-cats coming inside?" Louis mockingly shoots over his shoulder as he enters the base. Liam and Zayn share one last look before glancing towards where Louis is and following him into the mansion that the base is located in.

The three of them walk around the base, Louis leading with Liam and Zayn flanking on his left and right side, to make sure everything is running smoothly and that all their money and weapons are in stock. They make sure that the capos have done the daily runs of collecting and selling. After Louis gets bored and he knows everything is running smoothly, he decides to head down to the basement to see how Noah is doing. He walks in only to be met by Noah glaring at him with hard and angry eyes. Louis rolls his eyes at Noah's antics, seeing as he is in the position of power while Noah is tied up to a chair, and goes over to the table set up off to the side of the cell. On the table their is an assortment of knives, guns, pliers, lashes, and many other tools Louis can use for pain. There are only a few things placed on the table, but if you were to go a little further down the hall of the basement, you would reach a sound-proof room where the fun actually begins.

"Hello, Noah." Louis slowly drawls out as he picks up a knife and spins the blade in his hand, "I have so much planned for you."


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, this book is going to become darker than i originally thought so you all should be warned. 🙃
> 
> warnings: descriptive violence and torture (physical and psychological)   
> enjoy ;)

_"Hello, Noah." Louis slowly drawls out as he picks up a knife and spins the blade in his hand, "I have so much planned for you."_

"I could kill you right here right now, but that's too good for you innit?" Louis says as he drags the knife up the side of Noah's neck and under his jawline. "I'd be very careful with your movements right now because one wrong move," Louis adds pressure to the knife, "and you could bleed out. Now, what should we start with? There's so much I could do it's hard to choose. Hmm.. let's see, oh! The infamous 'Death by a thousand cuts,' that's always a fun one." Louis says as he walks around Noah, who shakes his head. "No? You don't like that? Oh... well that ruins my fun." Louis pouts, but it soon turns into a smirk when he gets an idea. "Liam? Zayn? Take Noah to the _white room_." 

The _white room_ was one of Louis' favourite forms of psychological torture. It was basically what you would think it was. It was a soundproof room with a white ceiling and floor and white walls. Noah would be put in white clothes as well and the lights were always be on, meaning that there was no shadows. It was one of the best ways to strip a person of their personal identity. They would go crazy with the long isolation times and they'll begin to believe anything you tell them, it was always fun to bend a person's thoughts and will. 

Zayn and Liam quickly untied a confused Noah from the chair and then left the room with Louis trailing behind them. They entered a small hallway where they strip Noah of his clothes, causing him to try and scream behind the gag making Louis roll his eyes and let out an annoyed huff. They change him into all white clothes, before dragging him through another door that was steel and soundproof and the inside was white with no window to look in. Liam holds Noah as Zayn unties the ropes around his wrist before they throw him into the room and quickly close and lock the door. There was a camera installed in the room, but it was white and hidden so the occupant couldn't see it, and allowed those outside the room to watch what the prisoner was doing. Louis sat down in the chair in front of the computer and watched as Noah banged on the door, although it made no sound, and snickers at his failed attempts. 

"Let's leave him in there for a few hours and only give him some water before we take him out. I don't want him falling asleep so if he seems to be, go in their and quickly splash his face with cold water then leave." Louis says before getting up and heading away from the cells. Liam and Zayn nod and stay behind watching Noah sit down and start rocking back and forth, muttering things under his breath that go unheard. 

When Louis closes the door to the basement he receives a message and pulls his phone out of his pocket. He can't help the smile that makes it's way onto his face when he reads who it's from.

_From Sunshine:  
Don't get mad, but my best friend Niall knows we hung out. Don't worry though he won't say anything. I've known him since the beginning of our training and we went to college together, so I trust him. _

_To Sunshine:  
If you trust him I'll trust you. I'm not mad. But if we are friends, what are you going to do about your job if we are ever seen together?_

_From Sunshine:  
Niall said the same thing, and I agree it will be difficult, but you're a mafia boss and I'm a secret agent. I'm sure we're both very good at sneaking around and staying away from prying eyes. _

_To Sunshine:  
Ok. If you think we will be fine then we should be good. I just don't want you losing your job because of me.  
_

_From Sunshine:  
Awww. Does the mafia boss have a soft spot?  
_

_To Sunshine:  
Only for you, Sunshine.  
_

_From Sunshine:  
Well, I have one for you too. x_

Louis smiles at the messages and can't help the way his heart flutters at what Harry had said. Someone hasn't said something like that since... well since his mother's passing. Louis keeps the content smile as he put his phone away, but as soon as he looked up and sees a few people looking at him funny the smile was replaced with a dark scowl.

"What are you lads looking at?! Don't you have work you are supposed to be doing?" Louis hisses before they all scramble away and to go continue doing what they were originally doing. 

***

After a few hours have passed and Louis ate some lunch he decided to go back to the basement to see how Noah was doing. He walks into the room to see Zayn and Liam conversing and looks at the monitor that shows the live footage from the camera to see Noah pacing back and forth and running his fingers through his hair. 

"Alright lads, time to get him out. I want you to blindfold him and tie his wrists back up then bring him to the room where I'll be waiting. Oh, also feel free to use the neck trap. Put that on before you blindfold him so he sees it." Louis smirks before strolling down the hallway to the room where most of their captives usually ended up dying. Louis turns around when he hears the door opening and looks to see Liam and Zayn dragging Noah by the neck trap. 

"Noah you should be careful if you move your head too much while wearing that. The spikes could definitely draw some blood. Oh, and it does this." Louis pulled out a small remote and pressed a button causing the iron spikes of the trap to shock Noah and make him fall to his knees and scream in pain. "See, be careful." Louis shrugs. Liam and Zayn pick Noah up and sit him down in a chair and lock the restraints around his wrists and ankles, watching as he struggles to try and get free, but failing. "Liam and Zayn, could you also gag him again? I don't want to hear his screams all day." Louis says before turning around and starting a fire to heat up coal and iron. When Louis turned back around, there was a strap around Noah's forehead keeping his head in place and a rag in his mouth, to muffle his screams and limit his talking ability. Louis nods towards Zayn and Liam and they take that as their cue to leave the room, but they stand outside the door to keep guard and for easy access back into the room after Louis is done. 

"Let's see Noah. Even though you didn't like the idea of 'death by a thousand cuts' it's always so fun to me. Don't worry, I won't do it in one day, I'll do it over months so you never lose too much blood. You know what? I'll make tally marks so we can always count how many I've done!" Louis gasps before taking one of the knife's and cutting a slash in Noah's arm, right next to the scar from when Harry cut Noah. "Oh look here, Harry already started didn't he?" Louis asks as he traces over the scar. Noah tries to move away from Louis' touch making Louis sigh. "Noah, that's not going to do anything, in fact, it makes it worse." Louis states and then quickly makes two more gashes in Noah's arm. Noah has tears from the pain leaking from underneath the blindfold and streaming down his face as his sobs are muffled behind the gag. Louis sets down the knife and begins to wipe away the tears. "Don't cry Noah. We haven't even got to the fun part yet." Louis voices, and before Noah starts crying again he presses the button on the remote, sending electricity from the neck trap into Noah's body and making him convulse in the chair, with much difficulty due to him being held down by the restraints. "Oh, sorry. Did that hurt? I'm not sure it did." Louis declares before pressing the button again. 

"You wanna know the fun thing about this chair Noah?" Louis rhetorically asks, but Noah still shakes his head. "It can lean back into a table and we can have even more fun." Louis says before he calls Liam and Zayn back in. "Can you guys lean the chair down? I'm going to set up the water." Liam and Zayn quickly lean the chair back as Louis fills up the bucket of water over Noah's head and makes sure the dropper is working and set to a random pattern. "Have you ever heard of 'Chinese water torture'?" Louis asks and Noah whimpers in response. "Ah, so you have. Usually it's in a timed pattern, but you see what's fun about that? We like to keep the suspense." Louis adds. Louis makes sure the dropper is set randomly, because if it was the same time between each drop the consistency can become therapeutic or meditating which is exactly what Louis doesn't want Noah to feel. "Alright, Noah. You're all set. I'll be back in a few hours." Louis says as he, Zayn, and Liam exit the room with the sound of Noah's muffled screams for help behind them. They lock the door and head upstairs to the house dinner. 

Louis sits at the head of the table, Zayn to his right, Liam to his left, and then the other seats are filled with the top tier capos. The servants come out of the kitchen carrying the dinner plates and Louis thanks them because he is not a total monster. 

"Mrs. Ashley, was there any trouble with the deals today?" Louis asks one of the few female capos of the house. He always welcomes women into his mafia because he argues that their shouldn't be stereotypes where only men can be in the mafia. 

"Well, the casino seems to be running well and the house always win so you're still getting money from that. The drug deals are well, although buyers are going down because they don't have enough money or are scared of what will happen if they don't pay you back in time." She replies in a level voice. Louis nods and thanks her, to which she bows her head in recognition. 

"Everything don't wait on me, enjoy your meal!" Louis calls out and everyone starts to dig in. One of the servants comes over and takes a bite of Louis' food to show it isn't poisoned, as that has happened before, then heads back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up and join the others. There is a light chatter around the table as they all discuss what is happening within the mafia and how to gain more money, while creating the least amount of enemies. 

"Sir?" Someone asks Louis. 

"Yes, Mr. Miller?" 

"We have a proposition." Louis nods his head to tell them to go on. "What if we were to lower the cost of the drugs a few cents or dollars, allowing for-" The man was cut off by the ringing of Louis' phone. Louis digs his phone out of his pocket and without looking at the caller ID, answers the call.

"Hel-"

_"Do you happen to run a casino to gain more money?" Harry quickly whispers out._

Louis scowls at being interrupted, but it's Harry so he isn't too mad about it. "Yes, I do. Why?" 

_"Because the agency got a lead and we're heading there and they're going to try and trace money transactions and even if you use a cover name, they're good at finding the path." Harry explains._

"Fuck." Louis mutters darkly. "Liam and Zayn get everyone out of the casino and private all transactions under the name. Move some of the money to my mother's account, they won't suspect anything because that money keeps growing." Louis barks the order out and everyone stares at him wide-eyed as Liam and Zayn rush out of the room. Louis stands up from his seat and motions for everyone to continue with their dinner before exiting the dining room. "Thank you, Harry, but why did you tell me?" He asks.

_"Because I just got you back and I didn't want to lose you again." Harry mumbles._

"I don't want to lose you either. Goodbye, love." 

_"Bye, Boobear. Be safe." Harry says before hanging up._

Louis smiles at his phone and feels that flutter of his heart again at Harry telling him to be safe. Louis is still pissed though at how someone could figure out that he owned the casino, someone either ratted him out or didn't cover their tracks. Louis walks to the basement door and yanks it open deciding to take out some of his stress on his latest captive. He storms his way down the hallway till he gets to the room Noah is in and opens the door to find Noah whimpering and squirming on the table, dried blood on his arm. Louis smiles at the sight and quietly makes his way into the room and carefully picks up the knife before making another gash on Noah's arm, causing him to scream out in pain and surprise as he was too distracted focusing on the water dripping on his forehead to hear what was going on around him. Noah begins to sob behind the gag again as Louis presses the button on the remote, electrocuting him again. 

"Noah, we got you here just in time, because now I get to have some fun to relieve my stress whenever I want to." Louis says as he brings his hand up to grab a clump of Noah's hair and harshly tug on it causing the latter to whimper out in pain. "Hmm, I want to hear you scream right now, but what should I do to you?" Louis wonders as his eyes roam the room. He eyes the pile of iron rods and gets a bright idea. He grabs one of the rods and holds it over the fire, heating it up until it becomes a glowing red. Louis walks over to Noah and unties the gag around his mouth getting ready to place the burning rod against his skin. "Now, Noah, I want you to scream as loud as you need to." Louis says before pushing the rod into the sole of Noah's foot to make him scream, and also making it difficult for him to walk and stand when he is done. Noah screams a blood-curdling scream while Louis holds the rod against his foot for a few seconds. Louis pulls the rod away from Noah's foot as his screams turn into harsh sobs and the blindfld becomes damp with his tears again. "Would you look at that Noah. Now everyone will know where you were." Louis runs his finger over the burnt imprint, _'Royal Devils'_ , on Noah's foot as Noah screams and sobs again. "You're now branded with the mafia name, how beautiful." Louis utters in slight awe. Noah just sobs and breathes harshly as his eyes clog with tears of pain and sadness behind the blindfold. "I think we're done for today Noah. We're gonna have so much fun these upcoming months." Louis states before he leaves the room to get Zayn and Liam.

Zayn and Liam follow Louis back into the room to find Noah silently sobbing on the table. They eye the dried blood tracks on his arm and the pool of blood where the blood had dripped. They see how the flesh has been mauled around the _'Royal Devils'_ branding, and can't help but grimace at the sight. They move the chair back up into a sitting position causing Noah to start squirming out of fear and Louis to shock him again making him stop moving. "Let's go Noah. It's time to go back to you new home from now on." Louis whispers into Noah's ear causing him to shiver. Zayn and Liam undo the restraints and retie Noah's hands behind his back again before picking him up, seeing as he couldn't walk on his now mauled foot. Liam carries Noah into the white room cell and undoes the restraints and blindfold before walking out. Zayn closes and locks the door behind him as Louis sits in front of the monitor and shocks Noah one last time to see him convulse and try to scream out in pain before turning to face Zayn and Liam. 

"I don't want him to sleep for a few days. If he tries sleeping either one of you throw cold water on him or have someone who is watching over him throw water on him. He needs to lose track of time. Also, feel free to shock him every once in a while." Louis orders before he stands up and strides away from where Noah is being held and goes upstairs. Louis enters the master bedroom of the mansion and falls asleep to the echoing screams of Noah in his head and dreams of a better life. Maybe one with a curly-haired lad. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> congratulations! you just read nearly 3,000 words about someone being tortured! i'm proud. 
> 
> my fbi agent probably thinks i'm crazy because i did research to make this as realistic as possible.
> 
> thoughts? was this too dark? did you like how it was?


	18. Chapter 18

It had been just over a month since the incident with Noah. Harry had been stuck running back and forth in the agency trying to 'help' solve the case without giving away the information that he knew. He was thankful that Niall was always going to be there by his side, because with his clumsy self he probably would have said something already. Harry was overwhlemed with the amount of work they were giving him. Not only did he have to work on Louis' case he also had a few other smaller cases that he and Niall were assigned to. Thankfully, those other cases were smaller and easier, but the workload was stressful.

Sadly, along with the stressful workload came less time to talk to Louis. The two of them had a few sparse conversations here and there, but not as often as they would like to have been talking. It was also quick and dry conversations such as a , _'Hi, How are you?'_ and _'Good, thank you.'_ Harry was at least thankful that the time apart gave him more time to reflect on his feelings.

His feelings. Now that was a fun conversation. He had no clue what they were. They were all over the place. He was confused, because how could he still feel that way about someone he hasn't talked to yet alone seen in so long. He was also happy to be feeling that type of warmth and comfort in another person again.

Harry groans and rubs his temples as he gets distracted from work, once again, and begins overthinking.

"You alright, mate?" Niall asks Harry as he looks over the file he's reading.

"Yeah." Niall raises and eyebrow. "No... I just- I don't know. My mind is all jumbled and having all these cases and working overtime while trying not to think about... that, it's all so difficult." Harry mumbles in reply.

Niall nods and hums in sympathy as he thinks of an answer to help his best friend. "You want to talk about it?" Niall asks. "I mean I know a lot's happening, so it might help to have someone else's thoughts on the matter."

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks Ni." Harry smiles gratefully and Niall gives him a grin back. "Just after work so we don't have to worry about any interference." Harry adds, Niall nodding along in agreement.

A few hours later Niall and Harry were sitting in a cafe drinking coffee and eating biscuits. Niall waits for Harry to take his time and watches as he picks apart his food- one of his nervous habits.

"I'm just confused with how I'm feeling." Harry starts and lets out a deep sigh before continuing, "I haven't talked to, or seen, him in so long. Like I- I shouldn't be feeling this way, right? Especially after just getting out of my relationship with Noah?" Harry inquires.

"Well, not necessarily Harry. Emotions come and go all the time so it's not impossible for you to be feeling what I think you're getting at. I understand why you might think it's weird to feel that way only a little while after the Noah... incident, but you'll always remember your first." Niall says, pausing to think of the best words.

"He was my first love... and hopefully my last."

***

Louis was also confused about his feelings. He took his frustration out on Noah and asked him why he did what he did and what would only become more enraged when Noah would reply with _'What did i do?'_ Liam and Zayn were a little frightened by Louis' anger. He would wake up and go to the basement where Noah is and then only come up when it was time for meals or to go to bed. They knew that they had to wait for Louis to figure it out on his own or ask for guidance.

It angered Louis so much that Noah didn't realise how much he had hurt this precious angel. _His_ precious angel. Louis used his anger to physically hurt Noah the way he mentally hurt Harry. It drove him insane with the desire to protect the boy. He started questioning why he wanted to protect him so much. Why did he care so much about someone he hasn't seen or heard from in so long? Then everything came together and he connected the dots. That's when he realised, he still loved his Sunshine. Even after all these years, his Sunshine still owned the key to his heart. And he wanted- no needed- to get his Sunshine back, and that's what he would do.


	19. Chapter 19

"Mr. Styles!" Harry turns around at the sound of his name being called by his boss. He has a bright smile on his face, but his eyes tell a different story. One full of hurt and betrayal. His boss motion for him to follow so he does. He silently follows his boss into his office as his thoughts jumble together searching for the reason as to why his boss was looking at him like that and why he had called Harry out. Harry's boss sits in his chair motioning for Harry to sit in front of him. He does, and schools his features to keep a neutral look on his face, even though he is freaking out on the inside.

"I've called you here because you are the best agent and I believe there is a mole in the agency and I need you to find out who it is." His boss states calmly.

"What do you mean there's a mole? Why do you think that?" Harry questions slowly, trying not to sound too curious and frightened. _He_ was the one who called Louis, but why would they think there was a mole.

"The mission to the casino was a last minute decision meant to surprise Louis. The only way I can think he would've known about it is either someone ratted us out, or, there's a spy here."

"I understand, but why did you call me in here to tell me this?" Harry asks, focusing on keeping his face neutral and his voice level. He breathes slowly and deeply to keep his breathing at a normal pace.

"You're the best of the best. I want- no need- you to find out who the mole or spy is. Can you do it Harry?"

"Of course Mr. Smith." Harry reassures before he gets up and leaves his boss's office as quickly and calmly as possible to not seem suspicious.

As he closes the office door behind him, he feels as if everyone is staring at him as he walks back to his desk where Niall is seated waiting for him. He walks with his chin held high and makes sure not to hunch his shoulders to seem as if he isn't fazed by the attention, when in reality he is. The attention makes his skin crawl, the hair on the back of his neck rising, he was already slightly nervous after what his boss had said and asked of him. He wants to curl into a ball and hide. Harry had never liked all attention being on him, and having his boss single him out in front of everyone then go to his office, made everyone stare at him with curious eyes, wondering what his boss had said.

Harry finally makes it to his desk. His face still neutral and void of any emotion as he sits down and begins to look and sort through files. Niall kicks his foot under the desk causing his head to snap up and look at Niall. He asks a question with his eyes and Harry shakes his head in reply mouthing "Later." Niall nods and gets back to what he was already doing. Harry still feels eyes boring into his head so he looks up from his files and studies everyone in the room. His face is passive, but he makes eye-contact with every single person looking at him and narrows his eyes making them all quickly look away before resuming their work.

Harry thankfully wasn't bothered for the rest of the day, but he wasn't excited to tell Niall what had happened. This situation was going to be a test for them. A test to see if they would actually be able to pull this scheme off.

***

"So... What did Mr. Smith tell you?" Niall asks as soon as they have driven away from the agency and are cruising down the highway towards Harry's house.

"He said that he believes there's a mole and that he wants me to find out who it is." Harry replies. Niall looks over at him wide-eyed, his mouth gaping in shock.

"But... You're the one who told Louis. How are you supposed to find the mole without giving yourself in?" Niall asks.

"I don't know Niall. I worked so hard for this job I don't want to just give it up. But- But I can't give up Louis either." Harry whispers out. Niall reaches over the center console of the car and rests his hand on Harry's shoulder to try and comfort him. The rest of the car ride is silent as they make their way to Harry's house. Niall decides last minute to stay over so they don't stop to drop him off.

When they arrive at Harry's house, Harry unlocks the door and goes straight upstairs to take a shower and relax his tense muscles. Niall watches as Harry's slumped figure makes it's way up the stairs and onto the landing turning into the hallway that leads to his room. He decides to make dinner for the two of them, seeing as the state Harry is in.

In Harry's room however, instead of getting straight into the shower he calls Louis. He doesn't know why he always feels so drawn towards the older boy, but... he wouldn't have it any other way.

_"Hello Sunshine." He hears Louis say from the other end of the line._

Harry smiles at the sound of his voice and sniffles as a tear rolls down his cheek. He hadn't even noticed that he was crying.

_"Hey. Why are you crying, love?" Louis asks._

"I don't know, Lou. I- I'm just stressed, I guess? My boss told me he thinks there's a mole in the agency and I know it's me because I told you about the casino and- and he asked me to find out who it is, but I can't! Because it's me! I told you about it! I don't know what to do because I worked so hard for this job, but I don't want to- I can't lose you again Lou." Harry silently cries into the phone, gasping for breath after his confession. It felt so good talking to someone about how he was feeling with no barriers. Louis was silently on the other end of the phone and Harry was starting to get worried. _'Did I go to far?' 'Did I say something wrong?'_ Harry started to cry more, a wet sob escaping his lips as he began to overthink.

_"Hey, love. Don't cry I'm right here. It's OK. You're OK." Louis whispered into the phone. "Don't worry about this situation love. I've got it covered, okay?"_

Harry nodded even though Louis couldn't see him. He listened to Louis' breathing on the other side of the phone. The soft sounds of the puffs of air calming him down. He takes in a deep breath before exhaling slowly. His breath catching in his throat for a second as he finally registers Louis' words. "What do you mean you've got it covered?" Harry asks slowly, his voice cracking.

_"Don't worry your pretty little head, Sunshine, you'll find out soon." Louis says._

Before Harry can reply he hangs up the phone, leaving Harry staring down at it confusedly wondering as to what Louis meant.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also, i start school soon :( so updates may take longer but i will still try to update as often as possible. thank you guys for understanding :)

After Louis hung up the phone on Harry he felt bad for leaving him alone in the state he was in, but hoped he wasn't alone and his few encouraging words had helped. He had to hang up the phone before Harry's voice and cries got the better of him and he told Harry what he planned to do. It wasn't helpful that he was able to visibly imagine the tear tracks on Harry's face and his glossed-over eyes and flushed cheeks. The thought made his heart ache at the state the poor boy seemed to be in. He had already seen Harry at his breaking point and after that he never wanted to see the boy in pain again. He made a promise to himself to do whatever he could to help Harry, and that is what he was going to do now.

He sets his phone down before steeling his face of any emotion and getting ready to call the one person he needed to help him with his plan.

Elijah Wolf. One of the best assassins in the underground world. Louis had met him when he was just starting up the _Royal Devils_. He wasn't as well known then but Louis decided to work with him and they both quickly rose through the ranks. So, here they were now, both famous in the world of crime for completely different things, and still close "friends." More close work friends.

Louis quickly dials Elijah's number once he had found it and sits down in his large office chair. He grabs the lit cigarette he had put down and continues to take deep drawls of the cancerous air before slowly exhaling, listening to the constant sound of the ringing phone.

_"Hi, Louis. Long time no talk." Elijah answers the phone._

Louis scowls, he can practically hear the mocking tone in his voice. As he had said they were work 'friends'. They got along only when needed to.

"Hello to you too, Elijah." Louis drawls. "I have a job for you."

***

The next day at work Harry's brain is split in two. He's worried about Louis and what his plan is, but he also needs to focus on his work and figure out what he is gonna do about Mr. Smith's request. He couldn't betray Louis and turn him in just after he got him back, but he also couldn't turn himself in because he loved his job and had worked so hard to get here. 

Harry groans in frustration as his thoughts push and pull inside his head, giving him a slight headache. He shoves the file in front of him away and looks around the agency to distract himself. He watches all the other agents rushing around the floor to do their work and converse about how they could solve cases. As his eyes drift around the room watching all the ruckus of the agency, that's when he notices him.

A person standing off to the side staring at him. He is wearing a dark suit, his hair styled in a slight quiff, and dark sunglasses covering his eyes. He is looking directly at Harry and that's when Harry realises why he had felt a bit off earlier. He brushed it off as his thoughts pushing and pulling at his brain, but that wasn't the only thing apparently. It was because of this man who hadn't taken his eyes off of him. When the man notices Harry is looking back at him he slightly bows his head towards him in acknowledgement before he turns away and heads towards Mr. Smith's office.

"Hey Niall?" Harry calls out to his friend as his eyes follow the man walking down the hallway before he disappears into his boss' office. 

"Yes?"

"Did Mr. Smith say anything about a new recruit or that we had an inspection today?"

"No? Why?"

"No reason" Harry says and shakes his head, but he can't shake the feeling that this guy means bad news. Harry tries to resume his work, but his mind betrays him by wandering to the strange man and what he could possibly be doing here. As he is lost in his thoughts that's when he hears it. A scream. Everybody turns in the direction of the sound and that's when Harry realised it had come from the direction of his boss' office.

He jumps out of his seat and rushes over to see what the commotion is about. As he turns the corner he sees one of the case managers with her face white as a sheet, as if she had seen a ghost, staring at a figure on the ground. He makes his way into the office only to be met with the sight of his boss' body laying on the floor with a slight trail of blood coming out the side of his mouth. He quickly looks around noticing the window was open and runs towards it and looks down, only to be met with the view of the busy city street below. _'Where the fuck could he have gone and what was he doing here?'_ Harry asks himself. _'What are we going to do now?'_

"I'm going to call the Head Office and tell them what happened." Harry announces before he walks out, sending one last glance to the man on the floor. As Harry walks back to his desk to grab his phone to call the Head Office and that's when it hits him. _Louis._

He quickly rushes out of the building to his car and jumps into the driver's seat before dialing Louis' number. His leg shakes up and down, in anticipation for when he answers, as he mulls over what he is going to say. 

_"Hi, Sunsh-"_

"Why?" Harry deadpans.

_"What do you mean, angel?" Louis sweetly asks. No trace of regret about what he had done._

"Why did you kill him? Better yet why did you send an assassin?" Harry hisses.

_"He was in the way and I wanted to help and this was how I could help. Aren't you happy, Sunshine? He's out of the way now, i told you you don't need to worry your pretty little head."_

Harry couldn't help but smile at the tone of Louis' voice, but then remembered why he was talking to him in the first place. "Louis," he sighs, "I get that you were trying to help, I do. But what if they put a stricter boss in his place? That's going to make it more difficult! What if they suspect it was you and I can't do anything to-" 

_"Hey, hey. It's ok. I understood the risk I was taking doing this, yeah?" Louis says interrupting Harry's worried rambling._

Harry took a deep breath before replying. "Yeah... I just don't know what I'm going to do if I lose you again." He mumbled sadly.

_"Me neither, angle, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, yeah?"_

"Yeah." Harry smiles.

_"Yeah." There's a moment of silence as they both get lost in their thoughts before Louis speaks up again. "Hey, do you want to get some dinner with me tonight?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i honestly have no idea why it took me so long to write this. i hope it's good because i'm not the proudest of it but it's what i could get done.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been awhile. anyway i started school and it's been going well although a few of my teachers suck :( 
> 
> anyway homework got in the way and i didn't have a lot of inspiration but i finally got some free time and was able to write this. i hope you like it :)

_"Yeah." There's a moment of silence as they both get lost in their thoughts before Louis speaks up again. "Hey, do you want to get some dinner with me tonight?"_

"Uhhh- Umm- I-Ehh..." Harry stumbles over his words as he struggles to find an answer. He was so caught of guard he just fished-mouthed for a few minutes before stuttering over his words and blushing furiously. "....Yes." Harry finally sighs out with a bright smile taking over his face. His dimples and his flushed cheeks on full display for anyone who were to walk by to see.

_"Great!" Louis replies with a wide grin that Harry can practically hear in his excited voice even if he can't see it. "I'll pick you up tonight? Let's say around 7 ish?" Louis asks._

Harry blushes again at the realisation this is even happening. "Yeah 7 is good. You still remember where I live?"

_"Yeah I think I do. I'll see you then"_

"Yeah." Harry sighs out again. He's so excited and... nervous? This is just a dinner with his childhood friend nothing more or less, well maybe except the fact that he was also his first love. "Ummm what do I need to wear?" Harry asks quickly before he can get lost in his thoughts again.

_"Something fancy but not too fancy. I'm just taking you out."_

"Alright then, I'll see you at 7?" Harry asks blushing once again. He thinks about the fact that his face and neck probably look like a tomato at this point. 

_"See you at 7. Bye, Hazza." Louis says before hanging up and leaving a flustered and slightly confused Harry to himself and his thoughts._

Harry sighs before resting his phone in his lap. He brings his hand up, running it through his curly locks- a nervous habit he's picked up over the years. He doesn't know why he's nervous or a blushing mess. Him and Louis are friends. Right? So why does this feel like this could possibly be a date? Harry groans as he lets his head fall back against the seat. He quickly tries to collect himself before picking his phone up once again and calling the Head Office to let them know what had happened. And that they may need to clean up some blood and to send someone to pick up a body.

***

Louis lets out a deep breath he didn't realise he was holding as he sets his phone down. He can't help the little flutter of his heart or the small smile that breaks the stone-cold, blank look that was on his face earlier. Harry had said yes. Louis was still trying to proccess why it felt as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulder at his answer. It was just a dinner between old friends to catch up. Nothing more. Nothing less. Right?

Louis let his thoughts wander allowing him to imagine it as something more than it was, and the way Harry would blush if he were to compliment him in that fond voice reserved for only those closest to his heart. Louis had to keep reminding himself he only felt this much happiness and peace around the green-eyed boy because they were childhood friends and all the memories and feelings associated with him were all joyful and made during some of the happiness times of his life.

Sadly, his daydreaming wasn't able to last long.

Liam and Zayn barged into his office with slightly scared looks. Their eyes not daring to make eye-contact with Louis for fear of his reaction from the news they were about to deliver. Louis' bright face darkened as he scowled at the way their bodies were wound up tight, backs as straight as a stick.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Louis asks narrowing his eyes as the boys slightly flinch at the sudden sound of his voice. They're movements are slow and calculated- like they're trying not to startle or provoke him before they say whatever it is they need to say.

"Well, umm, you see- I-" Liam starts but stutters as he tries to get his point across in a way that hopefully won't make Louis blow up. However, Liam's stuttering makes Louis more curious and aggravated.

"Spit it out." Louis grinds out. His jaw is clenched is clenched so tight you can see the muscles when he makes even the slightest movement, and his body tight as he looks at the stuttering mess that is currently Liam. His whole demeanor changed from a fonding teenage boy, to a man who looks ready to murder anyone who crosses him or says one thing he doesn't like.

Liam looks towards Zayn for help because he doesn't want to deliver the news. Zayn sighs as he steps up beside Liam before taking a deep breath and preparing himself for Louis' reaction.

"Nickinterceptedoneoftherunsandkilledfiveofyourmen." Zayn quickly rushes out.

"What." Louis says more than asks, his voice dangerously low.

"Nick intercepted-"

"I heard you the first time." Louis nearly shouts as he slams his hands down on his desk and stands up. His voice echoing around the once still and quiet room causes Liam and Zayn to flinch and take a step back. Although they love Louis, when he gets in one of his moods or someone crosses him, he scares even them. "Fucking Grimshaw. I'm going to kill him. I thought he knew his place." Louis practically growls. Liam and Zayn send each other a worried glance. When Louis wants to hurt someone, he will do everything in his power to make them feel so much pain they'd feel on the brink of death, but they could only wish and beg for the sweet kiss of death to come and take them into the darkness. 

"Zayn go and get a team of our best men together. Liam I need you to stay here and monitor us." Louis barks out his orders before turning around to look out the window in his office. He takes his gun out of its holster, checking the bullets and that he has more if need be, but he never misses a shot. He puts his gun back before looking up and smirking and letting out a humorless chuckle, that would send chills down anyone's spine, "We're going on a hunt."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i honestly came up with this turn in the matter of five mins so hope you enjoy it :)
> 
> thoughts?
> 
> don't forget to comment and vote.
> 
> love you all and stay safe,  
> -H x


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is quicker than normal because after i wrote the last chapter I just kept writing. anyway i hope you guys enjoy it :)
> 
> warning: violence at the beginning

"Grimshaw, how are you?" Louis greets with fake sincerity and a shallow smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

"Tomlinson." Nick grumbles in reply.

The two of them were currently standing a few feet apart staring at each other with malicious intent. There seconds and capos were standing a few feet behind each of them, prepared to attack if their leader was provoked.

"You know Nick, a little birdy told me you killed some of my men. Care to tell me if this is true?" Louis sassily asks. Nick makes no movement to answer Louis' question, he just stares at him with narrow eyes, hollow with no emotion. However, Louis notices the little twitch in his fingers that are relaxed near his gun. "Cause' if you didn't do anything and this is just a big misunderstanding nothing has to happen here." Louis says. He begins to turn around before quickly ducking out of the way as Nick fires his gun where Louis was once standing.

"Oh Nicky, you shouldn't have done that." Louis chuckles darkly before jumping up to his feet and in one swift motion shooting Nick in his stomach, causing the latter to bend over and groan in pain. Louis keeps the gun held towards Nick. "This all could have been quick and simple but you had to go and make this difficult didn't you?" Louis rhetorically asks as he steps towards Nick and grabs his hair, tugging on it roughly to make him look in his eyes. Nick's capos go to move, but before they can draw their guns Zayn and the other capos draw their own guns on them. They drop their weapons knowing who is in charge here. "Now, since I'm feeling generous today I'll let you go with your life and this bullet wound as a reminder, along with maybe a few more cuts and bruises." Louis says as he digs a finger into the hole the bullet made in Nick's skin and moving it around, pushing the bullet in further. "But, if something like this ever happens again or you try to cross me," Louis shoves his finger further into the wound causing Nick to cry out in pain, "I will not hesitate to put a bullet in your head." Louis growls in his ear before taking his finger out and pulling back far enough to punch Nick square in the jaw. Nick falls backwards but is able to turn around and catch himself on his hands. He tries to stand up only for Louis to step on his back and push him into the floor. Louis bends down to whisper in his ear, "Make sure to watch your back Nick." That's all Louis says before standing up and grabbing Nick's head in his hands, and with no warning smashes it against the ground hard enough to knock him out, but not kill him.

Louis stands up and takes the handkerchief out of his pocket before slowly wiping the blood off of his hand- making a show out of it. He throws the handkerchief on top of Nicks unconscious body and then wipes his trousers off and dusts off his sleeves, before turning around and making his way back to where Zayn is standing next to their cars. "Well, time to go I have to go and pick Harry up." Louis casually says, as if he didn't just shoot someone, and opens the door settling into the passenger seat. Zayn shakes his head to recover from what just happened and turns around nodding his head at the other capos letting them know they can lower their weapons and leave. Zayn quickly gets into the drivers' side before speeding away from the scene and towards Harry's house.

***

Harry was standing in front of the mirror looking himself up and down. He hopes his outfit is casual enough but still fancy. He was currently wearing black skinny jeans with an ivory, silk button up shirt, the buttons done half-way up to show of his swallow tattoos and the top of the butterfly on his stomach. He usually only wore these outfits in his time away from work and when Noah wasn't home. Harry sighs at the thought of Noah and falls back onto the bed. He doesn't know what Louis did with Noah, and if he's honest, he doesn't really care. Being away from him gave Harry time to fully see all the damage Noah had done. He had teared him down piece by piece, stripped him bare, only taking and taking without giving, and Harry being the kind person he is only kept giving. He feels so stupid for being so blind and not standing up for himself more. He realised how much he tried to make himself seem smaller in Noah's presence, as he felt that's what Noah wanted and all he ever did was try to please the man. He shouldn't have. He should have listened to his parents and friends when they warned him about Noah, but he didn't. They all were suspicious and maybe, just maybe, if he tried to listen and see from their point of view he wouldn't be in this mess. Harry doesn't even realise he has started to cry until he takes a deep breath, cut short as it catches in his throat making him choke. He feels a single, salty tear roll down his cheek, leaving a wet path of his old life in it's wake, and fall off his chin into his lap as the memories flash in his mind. He sees them clear as day as if he was watching his life unfold as a movie right before his eyes. He quickly wipes the few stray tears, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down. Louis was going to be their soon and they were going to go out for their da- dinner. It was just a dinner. He shouldn't even be thinking of it as a date. He's barely gotten over Noah it's only been a month he should't be moving on this fast, he shouldn't. But he is. Harry rushes into the bathroom to splash his face with cold water and grips tightly, knuckles turning white, onto the edge of the counter breathing in and out slowly, trying to calm the rising breakdown wracking his body. He doesn't have to wait long until there is a quiet but confident knock on his door. Harry looks at himself in the mirror one last time before putting on a smile and walking out of his bathroom and towards the door.

He opens the door only to have his breath knocked out of him as he drinks in the sight of Louis in front of him. The man's hair was in a fringe over his forehead giving off soft and calming vibes, despite that fact he looked regal in his dark, navy blue suit. The first few buttons of his undershirt were undone, framing his 'it is what it is' tattoo, and he had no tie on to make the suit look more casual. Harry clears his throat when he realises he's been staring too long and looks up from where his eyes are studying Louis' tattoos, meeting the oceanic blue that are brighter and more alive than all the oceans combined.

Louis is already looking a him with an amused smile and Harry smiles shyly back before whispering out a short and breathless, "Hi." still trying to find his voice and get over the initial shock of Louis in his outfit.

"Hi, Sunshine. You ready to go?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the dinner is next chapter ;) what do you think is going to happen?
> 
> thoughts on this chapter?
> 
> all the love,  
> -H x


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the long awaited chapter is finally here omg. i am so sorry this took so long to write. and since this took so long to write i decided to be nice and make this chapter longer than usual. so i hope it is up to your standards and that you enjoy it :)
> 
> also, i haven't totally proof read this so sorry if there are any mistakes

"Yeah,let me just grab my keys and lock the door." Harry replies and turns around, bending over slightly to grab his keys from the bowl by the door. Louis' eyes follow Harry's movements watching as his tall figure hunches over, the muscles of his back moving seamlessly under the light fabric, to reach into the bowl, and how his long, slender fingers wrap around the keys. He can't help but stare with thirst at the way his shirt falls down slightly, revealing the smooth, soft skin underneath, covered in various lines and patterns of ink telling their individual stories, and how the growing shadows seem to move and dance along the exposed skin, underneath the soft glow of the hallway light, with his effortless movements. His eyes quickly snap back up to Harry's face when he turns around and sends him a sheepish smile.

"Let's go then. Zayn is in the car waiting, he'll drive us." Louis says before moving out of Harry's way and letting him pass through the door before closing it and allowing Harry to lock it. Against his better judgement and the soft atmosphere of the moment, Louis rests his hand on the small of Harry's back, guiding him towards the car.Harry slightly shivers at the contact, not un-welcomed, but surprisingly a warm and inviting reminder that he wasn't the only one nervous, if going by the slight tremors in Louis' fingers. He is unable to resist his bodies natural reaction, as his cheeks heat up with a soft blush that blooms and grows on them. He brushes off the tingly feeling in his body and the blush sitting high and proud on his cheeks, telling himself it was because of the heat- but deep inside he knew that was a lie no matter how much he didn't want to admit, yet.

The two of them settle into the back of the car, Louis opting to sit in the back with Harry, instead of the passenger seat, so he could admire him and easily talk to him on the way to the restaurant. There wasn't very much talking however, as Louis looked at Harry, watching the way his eyes flickered with the scenery they passed. He takes in all the details that made Harry, truly Harry. He started at the top of his face, where his forehead had faint lines in them, probably due to the stress that comes with his job,but he still managed to look young and flawless. Next were his eyes.They were a type of green that you would think you could only find in the brightest emerald, and were framed by a set of charcoal lashes that seemed that if you were to touch them they would feel like feathers.His nose was next, jutting out of his face when looking at his side-profile, but ending in a soft, button curve. It was not perfect, no one's ever was, but it was unique and it fit Harry perfectly. Just under his nose was Harry's cupid bow. It curved out just slightly until the beginning of his soft, plush lips that would probably feel like pillows if Louis were to kiss them- what? Louis quickly looks away from Harry's side-profile stopping his racing mind from continuing his current thoughts. Why would he even think about that? They were just old friends, nothing more nothing less.

_'Nothing more, nothing less'_ he says to himself in his head, letting out a deep sigh from the very depths of his lungs.

Louis moves his head to look out his own window not looking back over to Harry. Even though he can feel his curious glances, he wills himself not to look back, until they arrive at the restaurant. He glances side-ways to see Harry staring at him and sends him a slight smile, only consisting of a small curve at the ends of his lips. He watches Harry climb out of the car, then gets out of his own side, holding his handout for Harry to take as he rounds from the other side of the car.

"You okay?" Harry asks, because of course he does. He's kind and caring and all things good and happy, even after all he's been through, and Louis doesn't deserve that. Louis looks away from Harry only to feel the ghost of his fingers reach up under his chin to meet his eyes. As their eyes meet, his breath is knocked out of him as he sees the admiration and kindness, and is that maybe love? It couldn't be. At least not yet. Or ever.Probably the latter.

"I'm fine. Just a long day with work." Louis says, not a complete lie. He hopes Harry can't see past the walls he is building up to hide his emotions. He's always hidden them as part of his job, it's become a natural reflex now. Very few people get to see the overflowing and crowded place of emotions behind those walls. Maybe one day he can let Harry in again.Let him see who he really is as a person, instead of feeling afraid at simple questions, or having to look over his shoulder every second of every day. He sincerely hopes that if Harry sees the walls, and slight lies he doesn't bring attention to it and let's it go,allowing Louis to open up when he's ready.

Louis let's out a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding when he sees Harry slowly nod, accepting his answer, albeit wearily. "Alright then." Harry says as he takes a step back from Louis. "Care to lead the way? I don't know where we're going."

Louis huffs out a laugh before holding out his arm allowing Harry to lace their arms together before waving goodbye to Zayn, Harry saying a quiet _'thank you'_ over his shoulder, and pulling him along and into the restaurant.

"Reservation for two under the name Tomlinson." Louis says to the waitress at the front of the restaurant. Her eyes comically widen as she suddenly halts her actions and looks up at Louis as he sends her a slight smirk in reply, amused by her reaction.

"Uhmm,uh, ye- yes, of course, s- sir" She hastily stutters, collecting their menus and utensils, before leading them to a booth in the back.The waitress lays their menus down and hurriedly walks away leaving the two men to seat themselves.

"I knew you were feared, but that was... something else." Harry says with a slight chuckles as he crawls into the booth.

"I guess it comes with the job." Louis shrugs as he takes his seat across from Harry. The two stare at each other for a few minutes, sharing a small smile of contentment. Because that's what they are. Content to have finally found each other again and be near each other.

"What do you want love?"

"I think I'll just have some Spaghetti Bolognese." Harry says, his eyes flickering and scanning over the menu. "You?"

"I'm just going to get some Fettuccine Alfredo. Can never go wrong with that." Louis smiles, before his attention is caught by the approaching waiter.

"Hello gentleman, my name is Ryan and I'll be your waiter tonight. Can I start you off with something to drink?" The waiter, Ryan, introduces. Louis pretends not to notice the slight shake in his hands and how his voice seems to be slightly high-pitched and strained, signaling he knows who Louis is.

"Hello, _love_ , can we have a bottle of your most expensive wine?" Louis asks with a sickly sweet smile, ignoring the incredulous look Harry is giving him, in favour of watching the man's reaction to him. He always gets pleasure from watching him fear him. He may be a slight sadist. 

"Of- of course. Coming ri- right up." He stutters before scrambling to leave the table and get the wine. Louis chuckles himself before turning to face a hard-faced Harry.

"What?"

"Louis!" Harry hisses. "Why the fuck are you getting the most expensive thing?!"

"Relax love." Louis laughs. "It's fine. Trust me. I've got more than enough money." Louis says, before resting his hand on top of Harry's on the table and ignoring the slight sparks that shoot up his arm at the contact. He watches as Harry's eyes flicker to where their hands are touching and then back up to Louis' face. He doesn't say anything just stares at him curiously before turning his hand over allowing for Louis to now hold his hand. Neither of them bring attention to the touch of their hands and how good it feels. They just sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Harry speaks up again. 

"Fine. If you insist-"

"I do."

"But, I will pay for my own portion of the meal, and do not argue with me." 

"Harry you can't be serious." Louis chuckles but stops when he sees Harry's serious expression. "Fine." He reluctantly agrees.

"Great. There's more where that came from." Harry quietly says the last line as he trails his foot slightly up the inside of Louis' leg. And it's now that Louis feels the slight tug in his gut, hinting at his arousal. But, before he can say anything the waiter returns with the wine, asking what they would like to eat. 

Harry orders his Bolognese, talking politely and animatedly to the waiter as if he didn't just say that. When the waiter turns his attention to Louis he orders quickly, taking pity on the frightened waiter and watching as he scurries off once again.

"I think you've got it wrong Hazza. I'm usually the one in charge."

"It's always nice to have a change, is it not?" Harry says with a sarcastically sweet smile. 

"Only one way for you to find out, hmm?" Louis just smirks when he sees Harry's eyes darken a little with arousal. 

They don't have to wait as long for their food to arrive and they share light small talk, both of them finding ways to slip in teasing words or sentences, trying to rile the other up as much as possible. They quickly eat their food, both becoming antsy in their seats finding it hard to sit still without having any type of skin on skin contact with each other. Louis pays for their food, not paying any attention to Harry's whining and pouting about him paying for his food, before he snatches Harry's hand and practically drags him out of his seat and out of the restaurant. Once they're outside Louis takes a deep breath of calm air calming down a little bit before he turns around the corner and pushing Harry against the side wall of the restaurant and crashing their lips together. 

It's nowhere near perfect, their teeth clashing, as they try to find a rhythm that suits them, Harry giggling into Louis' mouth. Soon enough however, their lips are moving rhythmically together, and Harry's lips feel soft and plush just like Louis imagined. He swipes his tongue along Harry's bottom lip and doesn't miss the light, airy moan he let's out before opening his mouth and meeting Louis' tongue halfway. Their tongues dance together, taking in the feel and taste of each other's mouth for as long as possible.

"I told you I'm usually the one in charge." Louis huskily whispers into Harry's mouth and makes eye-contact with him before diving back in. Harry's hands are holding Louis' face as Louis' arms bracket his head and his body pushing Harry further into the wall. With both of them too caught up in snogging the life out of each other, they both miss the person walking up to them and pulling a gun out. It's too late and they're both stunned when they hear the gunshot. Harry' cries out in pain as the bullet pierces his shoulder and Louis hisses, as it just grazed his shoulder. This was the one time he didn't like the slight height difference because the bullet just missed him but now Harry's shoulder was bleeding and blood was staining his satin shirt as Harry grit his teeth in pain.

Louis quickly turns around face to face with _Nick Grimshaw_. He wastes no time in pulling out his gun and aiming to shoot Nick, but Nick had run into the crowd of people leaving the restaurant just before Louis could pull the trigger. He quickly turns around to find that Harry had slid down the wall and was now sitting down with a hand applying pressure to the wound and trying to stay conscious with the blood loss. 

"It's okay, Sun. I'm going to get some help, don't worry" Louis tells Harry calmly even though on the inside he is seething. He can't wait to dig his fingers into Nick's eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so.. don't hate me about hazza :(
> 
> thoughts? did you guys enjoy this chapter? what do you think Louis is going to do now?
> 
> all the love,  
> -H x


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im finally back sorry for being so late :(

Feigning confidence is the only way Louis knows how to protect himself. He makes himself look and seem big and strong, even if he is slowly crumbling and breaking on the inside. It's part of keeping himself safe with his job, but also so the wrong person doesn't get information on Louis and hurt him by hurting his family or by using the info as blackmail to show he is weak. But as the walls he's so carefully built and crafted to protect himself from situations like this begin to crumble, he does the only thing he can think of to do. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before tucking every emotion away into little boxes and slamming them into a room inside his mind. All except one, anger. Anger, that is now channelling through every vein and pore of his body. That's all Louis feels as he looks down at Harry's unconscious body in his lap. His hands were covered in blood, something that was not unusual for him, however, it felt different since it was Harry's blood.

He wanted to hurt Nick in any and every way possible for hurting Harry. He wanted to make him bleed so much he was barely alive. He wanted to hurt his pride, strip him of everything he's built, and show everyone how much of a fraud he was. He wanted to gauge his eyes out with his hands, dig his fingers into his eye sockets till his hands were drenched in blood, and feed his eyes to him. He didn't want Nick to see how much worse his torture was going to be. He wanted to cut his tongue out and feed it to him so he could taste his own lies. Before he could do any of that however he needed to get Harry safe.

Louis pulls his phone out of his pocket, fumbling with it as he tries not to coat it with the blood on his hands. He quickly dials Zayn's number as he whispers things into Harry's ear, telling him it would be okay as he waited for Zayn to pick up.

"I need you to bring a car with Liam. Nick shot Harry." Louis says as soon as Zayn picks up. He doesn't bother with the greetings knowing that Zayn would understand.

"Of course, Boss, we'll be there in a few." Zayn says, knowing it will help Louis to know he still has some sense of control over the situation.

Louis hangs up the phone and goes back to making sure Harry is okay. He looks at the way the stain continues to grow, soaking his shirt in a dark red stain as the blood leaks out of his wound, even with the pressure Louis applies. He sees the way Harry's eyes have rolled to the back of his head under his eyelids, the way his eyelashes fluttering as he tries to stay conscious but struggles, falling back into the depths of darkness. He watches how his breathing is ragged, taking shaking inhales and exhales, as time continues to slowly pass by, no care for the pain the two boys are in.

Thankfully Zayn and Liam arrive no less than thirty minutes later with a van. They back into the alleyway where Louis is sitting with Harry in his lap, combing his fingers through his hair and humming softly in his ear. Liam and Zayn were surprised to see Louis like this. They knew Louis usually disliked seeming small or showing so much affection to one person because he felt it made him look weak, which he didn't allow himself.

"Louis?" Liam calls, and Louis' head snaps up. They don't comment on the way his eyes gleam under the low lights or the slight puffiness that encases his eyes. They know Louis hates feeling vulnerable after everything he's been through, so they pretend to not notice.

They open the back doors of the van to show Louis that they have set up a mattress on the floor, making it more comfortable for Harry to lay down. Louis sends them a small smile before he stands up holding Harry in his arms, his arms under his knees, and supporting his back, bridal style. Louis walks towards the van and gently places Harry in the middle of the mattress before climbing in to sit next to him. He smooths the hair out of Harry's eyes and watches him as the van kickstarts and begins to move, rattling the back and causing Harry to groan in pain again. Louis shushes him before leaning back against the wall of the van. He stays staring silently at Harry letting his thoughts run wild as he thinks about everything that happened that night. The way Harry made him feel safe and free in a sense. The way they could talk about nothing for hours and find it the most interesting thing in the world. And to the way Harry's lips felt against his, a comforting and grounding feeling. A feeling that felt like the last piece of the puzzle being put in place; a feeling similar to home. Louis snaps out of his thoughts as he sees Harry shift again and his eyelashes fluttering under their own weight, struggling to try and open.

"Lou..." Harry mumbles into the chill, stale air of the van.

"I'm right here Hazza, you're okay." Louis rushes out as he moves closer to Harry.

"I'm sorry." Harry murmurs as he moves to snuggle closer to Louis' warmth.

"Why are you sorry, love? You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I'm sorry for not trying to find you sooner." Harry whispers before he falls back into unconsciousness.

"It's okay Sun. You've found me now." Louis sighs out before he places a kiss against Harry's forehead.

***

Harry's eyes flash with images of his past as he opens his eyes. The light slowly piercing his vision as he regains consciousness. He can hear low murmurs of words far away and floating in one ear and out the other, as his mind is still too jumbled to understand what they are saying. He groans in pain as the pounding in his head grows and it becomes all he can hear, the pain in his shoulder multiplying as well as it shoots up and down his body, sending pricks of pain to every nerve ending, at every slight movement he makes out of pain. Harry opens his eyes and tries not to wince at the influx of bright light. He looks around to see he is in an unfamiliar room. The walls a light beige, artwork and photos scattered to add character and colour. He lets his eyes wander around the room, taking in the large bed he is on and the furniture spread out throughout the room, watching the way the sunlight from the window gleams and reflects off of the mirror on the vanity. His eyes finally settle on Louis, watching the way his mouth moves as he talks to the two other men in the room, who he assumes are Liam and Zayn.

"Wha- Where am I?" Harry groggily asks causing Louis' head to whip around and face him.

"Hey, sweetheart. I had to bring you back to my place 'cause it was the closest and easiest place to get you help without me getting into any trouble." Louis quietly explains. "How are you feeling, Sun?"

"Like shit. And I'm tired as fuck. My head and shoulder hurt a lot as well."

"That's understandable. Liam was thankfully able to remove the bullet while you were still unconscious, so you don't have to worry about that. Your head probably hurts 'cause you lost a lot of blood. Just let me, Zayn or Liam know if you need any painkillers or something else okay? I need to go do some work, but get some rest yeah?" Louis says kissing Harry on his forehead once again before continuing. "Also, who is this Niall? He's been blowing up your phone with messages every two seconds." Louis says and scoffs slightly under his breath as Harry's phone vibrates, with yet another message.

"Oh, Niall? He's my- my uh best mate and co-worker. We met when we were in uni- university together. He's probably worried I didn't text him when I got back home... especially after what happened with Noah." Harry stutters through the pain in his head, his hand coming up to massage his temples. Louis nods his head in understanding before saying a farewell to Harry and telling Liam and Zayn to make sure he is okay. Before leaving Louis leaves one last kiss on Harry's forehead then turns around to leave the room. He had a son of a bitch to, go find and torture.

After Louis closes the door, he lets out a long sigh and heads straight towards, his office. He needed a smoke to calm down and understand his thoughts. He had no idea what was happening to him. He couldn't let himself feel again after everything he's lost but being with Harry made that task very difficult. He couldn't help the way he looks at the boy with soft eyes and a fond smile. He had missed him, and after all these years and after giving up he had found him again. But he couldn't have what he wanted. He couldn't be the stable person Harry needed, especially after his last relationship with that son of a bitch, Noah. As much as he wanted to be that for Harry he couldn't. He needed to put some distance between them after Harry recovered, which would sadly take no more than two weeks. He had two weeks left to do whatever the hell he wanted with Harry, but before he could figure out how to distance himself from Harry, however, he needed to find where Nick was so he could punch him in the face and wipe that stupid smirk off it.

Harry spends the rest of the day laying in the unfamiliar bed and thinking about everything that had happened. He had gone out with Louis, kissed him, and then got shot in the shoulder, by one of Louis'... enemies? He didn't know. It definitely wasn't how he had excepted his day to end. He knew being near Louis was dangerous, not just because of his job, but also himself. He didn't expect anything to happen so soon, however. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. On one hand, he was glad Louis was there to help him and bring him to a safe place to heal, but on the other hand, he was still scared of what this actually meant. He always knew his line of work was dangerous, but he was rarely in the face of danger outside of work due to his anonymity. It was definitely a surprise when the bullet had pierced the skin of his shoulder, he now had another target on his back. He wishes he knew what Louis was thinking because that would help ease his mind, to know how Louis feels about this situation too. He wants to be able to have something with Louis, even if it's just a friendship. It sounded like Louis was jealous when asking about Niall, but that was probably Harry's wishful thinking. All he needed was to be in Louis' presence. Louis is familiar but new. He is someone who was always there for Harry and he hopes he will be that person again.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so much has happened that has been keeping me from being able to consistently update im sorry hopefully they live up to what you want :(

The first week Louis continues to avoid Harry like he is the plague. Harry spends the time laying alone bundled in the soft satin sheets of his bed, wallowing in his own self-pity. He only leaves the bed to go to the bathroom when he's spent too much time laying in his own emotions and body-odor or he absolutely has to go. or spending some time stretching and cleaning his wounds. He watches the way the sun rises and sets through the window, the light reflecting and flickering in his eyes like a movie playing on film. He spends his time carefully contemplating the way life seems to move on, no care in the world for his melancholic mood. He thought he and Louis were doing good. The two of them had gotten along well, maybe better than just well but that's a thought for a later time, and had finally reunited after so long. But all of a sudden, Louis morphed into a distant stranger again, like one of the people you just walk by on the street. He became the ghost he once was in his life again, the shell of a person who existed but didn't. He could hear his footsteps, see the shadow of him from under the door as he walked by, his footsteps often slowing as he passes, sometimes stopping for a few seconds, as if hesitant, but then swiftly moving on again. Harry misses seeing his smile, the way his eyes crinkled with true happiness and fondness. Missed hearing his laugh, or just his voice in general. He missed the way Louis coddled him and wrapped him up in his arms, protected him, and made him feel safe, even if Harry was the taller one. It seems cliche when you think of how deep Harry was only after a few months, but he couldn't help himself. Louis Tomlinson was a mystery, an anomaly, and Harry's curiosity was more than peaked.

Louis spends the week running back and forth between meetings and the basement. He needs to keep himself busy and distracted, needs to keep his thoughts from wandering too forest green eyes, brown chocolate locks, and a set of plush lips he can't seem to get the feeling of out of his mind. His emotions are unbalanced, tipping so close to the edge of ferocious intent that one wrong move will send him tumbling and flailing down. He snaps at nearly everyone if they step even one centimeter out of line, he needs everything to be perfect, needs everything to run smoothly so he can stay busy. No one except Liam and Zayn truly knows why he is acting like a deranged monster, more than usual. They all think it is because of the Nick situation, the stress and built-up rage getting to him, but in reality, he was lost. So, so lost. Lost without the silver light of his moon to grab him by the hand and to guide him. Harry brought light into the darkness of his heart and life. He bathed in the feeling of the light dancing and passing in the shadows of the night acting as a leash to hold him steady. The warmth that spreads through him as the light filtered through the cracks and holes in his walls he had built. Louis has spent a better part of the past week looking for Nick, who went into hiding, probably from the fear of the outcome of his life right now.

'Good' Louis had thought. 'He should be scared for what's going to happen when I find him.'

Louis would always leave lingering looks towards Harry's door when he passes, but he wouldn't allow his mind to wander about what Harry may be thinking or how he may be feeling. He wouldn't allow himself to think about that, lest he cracks more at the seams and barge into Harry's room to coddle him and give him all the love and affection in the world. He couldn't and wouldn't allow himself to go in and kiss Harry senseless, until they were both begging for air, to ravage him right then and there, watch the way his face changes at the sudden intensity and pleasure, enjoying every minute of the heat between them, the pleasure that excites the air around them. As much as he may want to do that, he couldn't allow himself to. He quickly shuffles past the door anytime he realises he has been standing, floating through the sea of his thoughts, for too long. He has business to take care of first before he could continue to let his mind torture him with his own fantasies.

***

The second week brings around new changes for both of them. Harry felt he needed to finally get out of the cramped and stuffy confines of the bedroom he had shut himself in away from the outside world, and away from the temptation of seeing Louis. But sadly, Harry could no longer wallow and has to face the world as his wound has pretty much healed. He still needs to take it easy, the pain still sometimes stinging and overwhelming with certain tasks, but walking around and actually doing small tasks would help, and to do that he needs to leave the solace he had made for himself.

Louis still tries to avoid him as much as possible, and Harry decided to just let life take its path, even if it is slowly torturing his mind and heart. He can't decide for the both of them, they have to do that together. They had made an unspoken, mutual agreement to only talk during meals if they were eating together, or if they absolutely needed to, so as not to disturb and dampen the mood of the other house's occupants. Of course, they can't avoid each other forever and they end up running into each other throughout the winding hallways in the house. They would stare at each other, awkwardly trying to toe and dance around each other to pass with limited words spoken between them. Harry's heart squeezes and twists in pain every time Louis would look at him, sometimes through him, with a distant and longing look he hopes, his eyes could be playing tricks on him, his mind in too much emotional pain over the past few months. He wants to ask Louis what is wrong, but at the same time, he didn't want to make it worse by opening his mouth and blabbering on and on due to his slight nerves.

Harry has texted back and forth with Niall a lot throughout his stay at the house. He asks for advice and for updates about what's happening at the agency. He talks about how Louis won't allow him to leave until he was fully healed and he was sure Nick was brought in and detained. He thinks it may be Louis' way of making sure he'll be safe, also getting rid of an enemy in the process, but then again Harry can't read Louis' mind.

'At least he still cares.' Harry bitterly thinks and scoffs under his breath. His mind is a jumbled mess of emotional pain and physical stress from the wound in his body.

Niall continues to send him updates on the situation back at the agency after Mr. Smith's death. He says they are waiting for Harry to get back because they want to discuss the events with him since he was the one to find him. Harry was incredibly grateful for Niall covering for him, telling everyone he just had a bad case of the stomach bug and that he didn't want to come in in case he spread it around the office. Harry silently watches the way Louis would walk by and send a slide glare towards his phone after Harry laughs at something Niall had said, and Harry couldn't help the little fluttering in his heart, he wished to believe Louis was jealous, but whenever he begins to think like that he stomps on the thought like it was alight and he has to put the fire out as quickly as possible, so as not to get hurt more.

Halfway into the second week, Louis walks into the house after almost a full day with Nick in front of him, his face covered by a black bag, hands tied so tightly behind his back his circulation was probably cut off. He had his gun held up against the back of Nick's head and was guiding him by his wrists. Harry just stares at Louis, knowing he was bound to see this side of him eventually, but his heart still clenches tightly at the sight, to the point it physically hurts and he grimaces slightly. The pain of seeing Louis in his natural environment is so confusing, and the way Louis acts now is so different from the Louis Harry was joking and laughing with a few weeks ago.

"Lads, clear the basement room. Now." Louis growls out, his eyes never leaving the gun held to Nick's head. Everyone takes a second to regain their ropes, in shock from Louis' sudden hostility, and then quickly scurry off, afraid to piss Louis off further. They all know how Louis gets when he brings in a new capture and is already in a bad mood. "Harry, you might not want to be here for this, so stay away." Louis says acknowledging Harry's presence, "Unless you want to see what we do here of course, then be my guest" Louis wickedly smiles before hardening his eyes at him and all Harry can do in response is nod and slowly walk off to his sanctuary of a room.

Louis hates the way Harry seems to frown at his behaviour, the way his eyes seem to become distant, but it is what is best for Harry and he needs to focus on Nick right now. He needs to stay focused on the overwhelming amount of pain he was about to deliver Nick, and how much fun he is going to have doing it. He can't wait to hear Nick scream in agony until he passes out from the pain, only for it to start again once he wakes. Louis basks in the pain he is about to deliver. He felt so satisfied and free. It gave him a sense of control while also giving him time to clear his mind and take his own pain and agony out on others.

He absolutely can't wait for the satisfying sounds of Nick in pain, his body is buzzing with electricity, excited to get started. He pushes Nick along in front of him, not being careful about if he runs into anything or not.

Louis pushes Nick into the door leading to the basement, making sure he hits his head extra hard.

"Oops, sorry." Louis says with fake sympathy. He could care less about how uncomfortable Nick is or how much pain he's in. He revels in it. He lets the feeling of being in control of someone's life, the choice of whether they live or die sitting in the palm of his hands wash over him. He breathes in deeply, letting out a satisfying sigh right next to Nick's ear.

"I can't wait to get started with you. We're going to have so much fun." Louis whispers into the shell of his ear.

In a quick maneuver he opens the door then pushes Nick down the stairs, watching delightfully as he stumbles and trips almost falling down the stairs every step he takes, but unable to due to Louis' hold on him.

They enter the usual dark room. The set-up is nearly the same as Noah's. Louis feels a flash of anger rise in his body as his thoughts wander to Noah's current... predicament. He still has so much to do with him.

Louis pushes Nick into the chair bolted to the floor in the middle of the room. He quickly ties his ankles to the legs of the chair, wrapping the rope around and around, up to his thighs then back down again to make sure he was secure. He takes a set of handcuffs, sadly not the fun fluffy kind, and handcuffs Nick's wrist, so tight they start to dig into his skin. Louis then takes another set of rope and wraps it around Nick's chest constricting his breathing so it will be more difficult when he's heaving from choking on his own blood. When Louis checks all the links and makes sure everything is secure one last time he removes the bag from Nick's head, finally getting to stare into his eyes. He wants Nick to see what he is going to do with him. See all the pain Louis will deliver, and watch as his blood drips out of his body, pooling on the floor around him.

"Now, let's begin."

**Author's Note:**

> ok. so the first chapter is complete! how was it?
> 
> the first few chapters may be a little boring cause they are mainly focused on background information and set up so everything makes sense.
> 
> i hope you all enjoyed!
> 
> love you,   
> -H


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